Juvenile Justice Written Assignment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Juvenile Justice Written Assignment - Coursework Example He believes that the kid will improve if given much support and attention when released from the court in order to avoid being reoffended. The defense attorney also believes that the kid can be involved in more productive activities of his family and society in order to make the best use of his energy and efforts. When the kid is engaged in constructive activities of the society, this will help him to divert his energy in helping the society. This will also help Marquese in doing constructive activities thereby developing life skills which may further help him avoid the criminal activities by appreciating the role of order and justice in the society. The defense attorney therefore claims that Marquese lacked the necessary institutions to help him change his behavior. The kid should therefore be provided with relevant institutions that will help him develop life skills and family nurturing in order to engage and concentrate most of his time and energy in the constructive activities in the society. He should also be given moral support and guidance in order to help him reduce time available and discourage such criminal activities. ... Marquese is referred to as a frequent flier by the system due to his repetitive acts of criminal offences in and out of the court. He was therefore branded a frequent flyer due to his frequent and repetitive cases in court pertaining to criminal activities especially theft. The system has failed this this child because it has taken much into consideration the nature of the child at home and school so as to help him out of such a situation. This name suggests that the child habit could not be reformed but in reality Marquese can actually transform when subjected to close family support and monitoring. This name shows that Marquese was not given the necessary rehabilitation support in order to transform his behaviors. This therefore indicates the failure of the system to provide the child with the necessary support and psychological guidance concerning his situation. This name also convince the child that he cannot change his behavior. The system therefore failed to understand the actu al problems Marquese is undergoing like the abuse of drugs which needs special attention. Marquese was branded with negative names which made him wilder thereby discouraging his change of behavior. Marquese also never received adequate assistance that could help him fit into the society after leaving the court. This child can be rehabilitated because his situation is due to lack of moral guidance and support. This is shown by the arguments of his attorney general. Marquese is said to be a good student in school and he also loves her mother a lot. This child can therefore be rehabilitated through provision of adequate and necessary parental guidance and support of the society in order to engage in productive activities. The child can also transform when

Sustainability in Neo-Classical Economics Coursework

Sustainability in Neo-Classical Economics - Coursework Example The notion of sustainability relates to the creation of economic and social conditions through activities of the present generation for their own existence and maintenance of these conditions in such way that the future generations are able to maintain their own existence (EPA 2013). The following section defines the basic concepts of sustainability and provides an explanation of these concepts, which would allow an in-depth understanding of the issue of compatibility of the neoclassical theory of economics that has been studied in detail in the latter part of the paper. ‘Sustainable development’ is a concept that has gained importance in the late 1990s. It encompasses a vast area of understanding of the path of development of modern economies. However, in common understanding, the ‘sustainable development’ or simply sustainability refers to the path of development for the current generation in these countries. It signifies the way in which the current generation utilizes the resources for satisfying its necessities without indulging in excessive consumption of the resources that the interest of the future generation is hampered. In 1987, the World Commission on Environment and Development implemented this notion in the political agenda of the Commission (Mulder and Bergh 2001). Since then politically the concept of sustainable development has become an important issue in the development process of the countries around the world.   The world has experienced severely rising interest on the issue of sustainable development in the past two decades. Although it came into political light after the 1990s, economists have been devoting huge to the phenomenon of interaction between the ecology and the economy since the 18th century (Mulder and Bergh 2001). In this context, development means that the resources are utilized in a conscious manner in the current period so that enough resources are preserved for the future generations for the fulfilling of their interests (Asheim 1994, 35). The purpose of taking such a development initiative is to allow all generations to come to live a standard life. However, human activities involving the three interfaces; society, environment, and economy create a range of opportunities for the optimization of profit objectives of business organizations, but in most cases, the core concept of sustainability is ignored while performing this pure economic optimization exercise.

Internet The Prevalence Of On Line Grooming Media Essay

Internet The Prevalence Of On Line Grooming Media Essay The purpose of this short, provocative piece is to purport to the reader that whilst the Internet presents itself as a rich source of information, it also has the propensity to produce various dangers due to the nature of communication and identity construction embedded within the World Wide Web. Following Kapousiss (2010) conception of violence as a tool (Kapousis, 2010), I posit that the Internet is also a tool which deviant individuals are able to exploit through the construction of multiple identities and personas in an attempt to satisfy deviant fantasies whilst retaining their anonymity. My illustrative example of such dangers is the recent proliferation of the sexual on-line grooming of children. THE INTERNET AND THE NETWORK SOCIETY Without question, the Internet is a social phenomenon. The advances in technological systems which have made its emergence possible are the result of social production, and social production is culturally informed (Castells, 2001a: p. 36). The Internet has, in recent years, become the fabric of our lives, (ibid, p. 1) for work, for personal connection, for social networking, for information, for entertainment, for public services, for politics, and for religion (Castells, 2010: p. 64); as a result, it is becoming an integral tool of commerce, communication, and popular culture (Brignall III and Van Valey, 2005). However, despite its universality, a body of literature has emerged criticising the Internet for the de-humanisation of social relationships (Slouka, 1995; Kraut et al., 1998), media reports have linked it with increasing levels of loneliness, depression, and social isolation (McKenna and Bargh, 2000), whilst technopessimists have suggested that the Internet is endowed with t he capability to end civilisations, cultures, interests, and ethics (Berson, 2003: p. 6). Some commentators, however, have adopted a more optimistic standpoint and have defended the Internet arguing that through the performance of roles and construction of on-line identities users create a feeling of community (Rheingold, 1993; Turkle, 1995; also see Young, 2008). For the purposes of this paper, I will present the Internet as neither negative nor positive, but rather, as inanimate, a tool which entails various uses (Brignall III and Van Valey, 2005; Shannon, 2008; see also Kapousis, 2010). This position also mirrors that taken by Castells (2010) who suggests that both consumers and producers utilise the Internet as a tool through producers providing content and shaping the web (op cit, p. 382). The Internet forms part of a much larger, significant social change which has occurred over the past three decades the emergence of the network society (Castells, 2001a, 2009, 2010; van Dijk, 2006 Hardt and Negri, 2000). It is beyond the scope of this short paper to provide a comprehensive, all-embracing analysis of the network society and all of its components, therefore the emphasis will be positioned upon the changes which have occurred in communicatory practices. The network society emphasises the form and organisation of information processing and exchange, in this sense, we may define the network society as a social formation with an infrastructure of social and media networks enabling its prime mode of organisation at all levels (individual, group/organisational and societal) (van Dijk, 2006: p. 20). It is important to note that in Western societies the individual is increasingly becoming the basic unit of the network society, whereas in Eastern societies the basic unit remai ns to be groups such as the family, community, or work team (ibid, 2006). Within this paradigm the Internet can be defined as an integrated network (Castells, 2010; van Dijk, 2006). It is an integration of both data communication and mass communication (van Dijk, 2006), particularly since the emergence of the World Wide Web, which through an explosion of web pages created by organisations, companies, institutions, and user-created content (i.e. blogs, forums, bulletin-board systems (BBS), and non-profit sites such as Wikipedia.org), which has resulted in the mass communicative character of the Internet becoming increasingly visible (ibid, 2006). Consequently, the Internet has become a medium through which communication is mediated on a daily basis. However, the Internet does not replace existing forms of communication but, rather, it supplements them. In this sense, the Internet adds new forms of social capital to traditional ones, these forms may include selecting and contacting complete strangers with particular characteristics, types of online conversat ion, and the initiative to act both on-line and offline (ibid, p. 169). This is evident in a study undertaken by Katz and Rice (2002) which found that more than a tenth of Americans had established on-line friendships. Similarly, they found that over ten per cent initiated offline contact of which a significant majority (85%) described positive experiences (Katz and Rice, 2002). IDENTITY ON THE INTERNET Let me now turn to the issue of identity, particularly identity which is mediated and constructed over the Internet. My suggestion here, is, that the Internet functions as a gateway through which social beings are increasingly enabled to present themselves as they desire (Heyboer, 2007). Thus, any dangers which may result from the construction of anonymous identities which currently exist on the Internet are dependent upon the individuals application of the technology, in this sense, the Internet is a tool (Brignall III and Van Valey, 2005; Shannon, 2008; Kapousis, 2010). The construction of multiple identities, however, is not a new phenomenon. Writing more than half a century ago, Erving Goffman (1990/1959) suggested that individuals create various faces or masks which are applied depending upon the specific social arrangement. The subsequent experiences which the individual encounters help shape their reality and thus forms who they are. As Goffman (1959) suggests: In a sense, and in so far as this mask represents the conception we have formed of ourselves the role we are striving to live up to-this mask is our truer self, the self we would like to be. In the end, our conception of our role becomes second nature and an integral part of our personality. We come into the world as individuals, achieve character, and become persons (p.19) Despite the time period in which Goffman (1959) was writing, and that the identity construction he was theorising primarily occurred in face-to-face interactions, his insights are of high importance in relation to identity construction on the Internet. Of course, a central objection to the notion of self-presentation on the Internet is the importance Goffman places upon the physical setting of interactions, here the setting involves furniture, dà ©cor, physical layout, and other background items which supply the scenery and stage props for the spate of human action played out before, within, or upon it (ibid, pp. 32 33). However, applying the example of social network sites (SNSs) such as Facebook and MySpace, we can posit, albeit hypothetically, that the furniture is replaced by buttons and applications, the dà ©cor replaced by profile pages with varying designs (particularly for MySpace), the physical layout replaced by (in Facebook), communities and so forth, and stage props ma y include the instant chat function or messaging system which are embedded within the wider virtual social environment created by SNSs. Thus, it is possible to suggest that the presentation of self has become virtualised. An example of such virtualisation is present in the about me sections constructed within peoples profile pages. In doing so, users are indulging in a presentation of self whereby they paint a succinct picture of their persona, their self, as they desire; however, it is important to note that such personas may be exaggerated or completely constructed. The following quote, extracted from an about me section on social networking site Vampire Freaks tailored for gothic and industrial culture -, provides an eloquent example of such actions: Im a fucking human bitch! Im an epic nerd. I have no life. Im awesome and Im just that arrogant to admit it. Im also a vegetarian because eating animals is rude, would you go into someones house and slaughter there family because youre hungry? I dont think so. I like cute scene guys who make me smile 🙂 I love to tease my hair and draw my makeup wild. dont like it? I suggest you get off my profile now. I like to get drunk and piss on people, then blame it on the booze 😉 (16-year-old girl from Vancouver) Here, a unique form of self-presentation is present. We learn that the person is vegetarian, heterosexual, and abides to arguably widespread teen culture through the consumption of drugs and alcohol without any form of engagement with the actual person, be it virtual, face-to-face, or otherwise. Two studies have demonstrated the prevalence, amongst children and teens, of identity construction on-line. The first, conducted in 2001, found that 24 per cent of teens (12 17 years-old) who have used IMs (instant messaging) and email or attended chat rooms have constructed a false identity when communicating on-line (Lenhart et al., 2001), this finding was replicated in the second study, undertaken in 2005, which found that 40 per cent of minors (6 17 years-old) indulged in identity play on-line (Livingstone and Bober, 2005). Importantly, a third of teens (33%) reported receiving emails and instant messages off somebody who provided fake information about themselves (Lenhart et al., 2001) and 31 per cent reported receiving unwanted sexual messages (Livingstone and Bober, 2005). The findings which have emerged from these studies suggest that at the core of children and other youths use of the Internet is the formation of a culture in which minors are functioning as active social agents and consciously constructing identities on the Internet. Such actions increase the risk of victimisation considerably, the following section will consider the consequences of identity construction in relation to the on-line grooming of children and minors. WANNA CYBER =P? THE INTERNET AND ONLINE GROOMING Over the past decade, as a result of significant social changes in communicatory practices and the growth in electronic media used to supplement traditional forms of interaction amongst young people, Internet use amongst children and teenagers has grown exponentially. Reports suggest that a considerable number of children and young people (9 17 years-old) now access the Internet (74% at home, 92% at school) on a regular basis (41% daily, 42% weekly) (Livingstone and Bober, 2005), with half of 7 16 year-olds in the United Kingdom having access in their bedrooms (ChildWise, 2010). Meanwhile, in the United States, the number of teens (12 17 years-old) going on-line has now reached 93 per cent (Lenhart et al., 2010). Due to this almost ubiquitous use and increased interaction with the Internet, children are now at a considerably greater risk of deviant individuals who hide behind the electronic cloak of deviance (Di Marco and Di Marco, 2003) the Internet provides through retaining the anonymity of an individuals identity. Such risks are evident in the increasing number of global sex crimes which are committed over the Internet, particularly against children and youths (Leander et al., 2008), with as many as three million crimes reportedly occurring in 2006 (Kierkegaard, 2007). Thus, the purpose of this section is to illuminate the sexual on-line grooming of children, an increasing phenomenon (Shannon, 2008), as an unintended consequence (Merton, 1968 [1938]) of the social changes in our communicatory practices and the influence which technology has imposed upon such changes. The sexual grooming of children is not a new phenomenon, neither is the conceptual use of the term grooming. The term has been in circulation for a considerable period of time, for the most part applied by psychologists in attempts to analyse patterns of deviant sexual behaviour (McAlinden, 2006). However, the area has suffered from a lack of academic inquiry and thus the term grooming has become increasingly ambiguous, particularly in its application (Craven et al., 2006). Nevertheless, the most reliable definition is provided by Gillespie (2002) who defines grooming as the process by which a child is befriended by a would-be abuser in an attempt to gain the childs confidence and trust, enabling them to get the child to acquiesce to abusive activity (Gillespie, 2002: p. 411). Through avoiding the use of the term paedophile, this definition provides a clarity concerning the rationale of grooming and the systematic stages such processes are most likely to take. Traditionally, the process of sexually grooming a child with the intent to abuse them would require assuming a position of trust (such as a teacher, caretaker, or lollypop man). From this, the individual would form a relationship with his/or her victim before attempting to engage in sexual activity Traditionally, the sexual grooming of children usually occurred when an adult would assume a position of trust (such as a teacher, caretaker, or lollypop man) and build a relationship with the intention to ultimately abuse the minor (Finkelhor, 1984). However, the Internet has now offered itself as an application through which like-minded individuals can far easily access such social spaces where children hang and convalesce, such as social network sites or chat rooms. As Shannon (2008) eloquently states, (the Internet) has created a new and for the most part completely unmonitored interface between children and adults (Shannon, 2008: p. 160). As has been noted, research in this area is quite limited (McAlinden, 2006; Shannon, 2008). Nevertheless, a comprehensive study conducted by Wolak et al., (2004) incorporating interviews and data from 2,574 law enforcement agencies and 129 minors (13 to 17 years-old) produced important results concerning the study of the on-line grooming of children. The authors found that whilst offenders were frequently deceptive on-line (52%), only a small proportion falsified their age by claiming to be over 18 (5%) (Wolak et al., 2004). The study also supported Livingstone and Bober (2005) and Lenhart et als (2001) findings with a considerable minority of minors (9%) claiming to be over 18 (ibid, 2004). The findings demonstrate the dangers which the Internet enables through the formation of a culture whereby children and other youths are, in some cases, presenting themselves as adults without the constraints of the physical world, it is also important to note that this may be due to the impositi on of a consumerist culture whereby children are sexualised, for example, through the provision of shirts with quotations such as pornstar, lingerie and padded bras (Hennessey, 2010). As David Cameron suggests, Girls are encouraged to dress like women, wear lingerie and worry about what they look like (Cameron, 2010 cited in ibid: unpaginated). Important findings also relate to the nature of on-line interactions, for example, in a majority of instances sexual topics were raised and discussed with the victim on-line (83%) and a considerable number engaged in cybersex (20%) (ibid, 2004). Furthermore, a majority of on-line interactions transcended into offline meetings (74%), of which a frightening proportion (93%) resulted in sexual activity between the victim and offender, it is important to note, however, that a majority of sexual activity (79%) was consensual (ibid, 2004). Wolak et als (2004) findings raise considerable concerns regarding the on-line interaction mediated by minors. It appears, on the basis of the evidence, that children, whilst technically proficient, are culturally unaware of the wide-reaching, unintended, consequences of their actions on-line through the construction of identities and interactions of a sexual nature with older adults. However, put another way, one might suggest that as half of the adult offenders were deceptive (to some extent) a considerable amount of on-line grooming was conducted through the formation of intimate relationships, a hallmark of grooming practices. Indeed, in the study, 50 per cent of victims reported feeling close or in love with their offenders (ibid, 2004). Such evidence leads one to ask the question Is the Internet dangerous, particularly for children? My response to this is that the application of the technology, by both children and adults, provides the risks of victimisation and dangers for chi ldren. Thus, it is both a social and a public policy issue that is at hand. We must educate our children about the dangers of on-line communication, ensuring that they are aware and take the appropriate steps necessary to avoid victimisation. In fact, lessons in using the Internet safely are to become a compulsory part of the curriculum for primary school children, in the United Kingdom, from September 2011 (Fildes, 2010). In conclusion, the Internet has, without doubt, fundamentally transformed the way human beings communicate on a global scale. As Castells (2010) notes the Internet has posted the fastest rate of penetration of any communication medium in history: in the United States, the radio took 30 years to reach 60 million people; TV reached this level of diffusion in 15 years; the Internet did it in just three years after the development of the World Wide Web (op cit, p. 382). It is important that whilst we view the overall changes as positive, we are also aware of the dangers that the Internet poses, especially for one of the most vulnerable cohorts of wider society our children.

King Leopold II and Belgian Imperialism Essay -- European History Essa

King Leopold II and Belgian Imperialism In 1865, King Leopold II succeeded his father to the thrown of Belgium and thus began one of the most brutal and insensitive periods of imperialism ever to exist. From manipulative treaties to straight forward intimidation, Leopold dominated his empire like no other. He was cruel, deceptive, and downright evil, yet it took the world over twenty years to recognize this. The record of King Leopold’s atrocity is an interesting account of how a jealous man could inflict some of the most disgusting forms of oppression upon his fellow members of the human race. When Leopold came to power in 1865, he was incredibly disappointed at Belgium’s lack of power in the imperial world. Every other western European nation by had this time had taken on colonies as part of their empire; and therefore had been acquiring incredible wealth due to their new markets and exploitation of the native peoples they encountered. Belgium, itself, was a small country, and unlike their neighboring nations, they had not yet entered into the colonial scene. This all changed when the famous explorer Henry M. Stanley accepted Leopold’s proposal to return to the Congo acting as an agent of the crown whose mission was to obtain the signatures of all the native chieftains living in the Congo. Using despicable and manipulative tactics, Stanley was able to acquire over 450 treaties which paved the way for the declaration of nearly one million square miles of the Congo River Basin as the property of King Leopold II. The land Leopold had obtained was about eighty times larger than that of Belgium itself. Plus, Leopold was proclaimed the â€Å"sovereign† ruler of all the Congo Free Sta... ...Bibliography â€Å"Africa Imperialism† History of Imperialism. 1998-2002. 5 Oct. 2002. Constitutional Rights Foundation. 2000. 5 Oct. 2002 < http://www.crf-usa.org/bria/bria16_2.html>. â€Å"Leopold II- King of the Belgians† World History: King Leopold’s heart of Darkness. 2000. 5 Oct. 2002 Other Sources http://members.aol.com/TeacherNet/World.html#Africa This link brings the leader to a website consisting of many links regarding African Imperialism. http://www.crf-usa.org/bria/bria16_2.html This link brings the reader to a website focusing on King Leopold II of Belgium. http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Tielemans/hp50marc.htm This link provides the reader with a short biography of King Leopold II.

Business Finance Written Assignment

Q1. Define an â€Å"efficient market† and the three forms of market efficiency. Explain how each of the forms differs from a perfect market. Define arbitrage and explain what kind of information is needed for you to obtain arbitrage in each of the forms of market efficiency. (5 points) Q2. Please compare the advantages and disadvantages of the following investment rules: Net Present Value (NPV), Payback Period, Discounted Payback Period, Average Accounting Return, Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Profitability Index (PI). You can start by considering the following questions for each investment rule: Does it use cash flows or accounting earnings? Does it consider all cash flows or not? Does it apply a proper discount rate? Whether the acceptance criteria are clear and reasonable? In what situation it can be applied? What kind of weakness does it have? ) (5 points) Question 1 An efficient market is advocated by a hypothesis that under free movement of information, the true valu e of securities are fairly priced, which immediately and accurately reflect all information available to investors.By the assumptions that rational investors evaluate the price by ascertained future cash flows, and are able to learn and react quickly to new information once delivered, investors do not expect to achieve returns in excess of average market returns. The three forms of market efficiency are weak, semi-strong, and strong. Different degree of information is reflected by price in different forms. Under weak form, the prices reflect all past publicly available information, like historical prices movements. Under semi-strong form, the prices reflect all publicly available information, like financial statements and news reports.Under strong form, the prices reflect all public and private information. Generally, because of quick reflection of information in price and quick response of investors to the market, it is impossible for investors to obtain or use new information to f ind undervalued stocks. To illustrate, in weak form, using past prices for technical analysis is useless to predict future trend as past information is irrelevant to the future. In semi-strong form, using fundamental analysis is not useful as the prices are immediately adjusted once the information widely circulated in the market.In strong form, finding undervalued stocks is not consistent as all information is well known. Thus, no investors can earn excess return by trading the information or selling the stocks with too high expected returns. A perfect market is where no arbitrage opportunities occur (i. e. Law of One Price) because complete information is shared among all investors. Compared with efficient market, no distinction in degree of information is reflected in price here. Arbitrage means the practice of buying and selling equivalent goods in different markets to take advantage of a price difference.An arbitrage opportunity occurs if making a profit without taking any risk . An efficient market does not necessarily mean investors cannot yield excess return. Instead, an arbitrage opportunity does exist if they ask for appropriate information quickly. If a market achieves strong form efficiency given that it is mature enough, no investor can yield any excess return in long run. Thus, no more information is needed. On the other hand, private and latest public information are needed to obtain arbitrage in semi-strong and weak form efficiency respectively. (395 words) Question 2 Use of cash flows and discount rateAll investment rules are determined by estimated cash flows but only NPV, IRR and PI consider all cash flows throughout the project’s life. Except payback period, the cash flows are discounted by proper discount rate under each rule. A positive NPV expects the project adding value to firm and shareholders’ wealth. All discounted expected future cash flows are taken into consideration compared with the initial cost. The discount rate estimates the risk level and the return and thus it is appropriate. Thus, NPV is the best because it accounts for time value of money and risk of cash flows.IRR is the return that set NPV to zero. Similarly, the calculation is based on cash flows and discount rate (i. e. same benefit as NPV). It provides a simple tool without estimating all details but intuitively appealing to know. If IRR is high enough, the time spent on estimating a required cost of capital is avoidable. PI measures benefit per unit cost based on time value of money to estimate an additional value to firm. Two versions of PI provide same decision and both are easy to understand and communicate. For calculating PI, NPV calculation is used and thus PI’s advantage is same as NPV’s.Payback period is the amount of time for future cash flows taken to recover the initial investment. It is a scanning tool for uncertain cash flows. However, it ignores cost of capital and time value of money since only cash f lows for that current period are concerned. Also, not all cash flows are considered as cash flows beyond payback period are ignored. Similar to payback period, the only difference is discounted payback period better considers discount rate (i. e. time value of money). Therefore, payback period on a discounted basis will be longer. Clearness and reasonableness of acceptance criteriaNPV, IRR and PI can provide clear and reasonable criteria while only NPV can be applied to all situations. The NPV rule is to accept a stand-alone project with positive NPV or a mutually exclusive project with the highest NPV. As NPV is estimated absolutely, the rule can still be applied despite of different scale of projects. The IRR rule is to accept a stand-alone project with IRR greater than cost of capital or a mutually exclusive project with the highest IRR. However, IRR rule is consistent with NPV rule only if all negative cash flows precede positive cash flows. In other words, the conflict is due t o non-conventional ash flows and change in signs more than once. Thus, non-existent or multiple IRR(s) may cause uncertainty in decision making. IRR is unreliable when mutually exclusive projects are different in scale, risk and time horizon. PI is closely related to NPV, generally leading to identical decisions. PI helps evaluate and identify the optimal combination under resource constraint, especially for limited budget. The project with the highest PI should be chosen first. Nevertheless, it ignores the size factor and thus leads to incorrect decisions among mutually exclusive projects.Moreover, PI cannot be applied during multiple resource constraints. The rule of (discounted) payback period is to accept the project if it is less than a pre-specified length of time. It is easily understood and simply used because of clear acceptance criteria. However, an arbitrary cutoff point is required for determination. It is subjective since ignoring the impact of cash flows after payback period favors short –term projects and biases against long –term projects. Conclusion NPV is the most commonly used investment criteria and true at any time. If any conflicts exist among the investment rules, NPV rule should prevail. 605 words) Reference 1. Hong Kong Institute of Investors (2001), â€Å"Efficient Market Hypothesis†, retrieved 1 April 2012, from http://td. hkii. org/investu/168ch7/7-5. php 2. NYU Stern, â€Å"Market Efficiency – Definition and Tests†, retrieved 1 April 2012, from http://pages. stern. nyu. edu/~adamodar/New_Home_Page/invemgmt/effdefn. htm 3. Wikipedia, â€Å"Efficient-market hypothesis†, retrieved 1 April 2012, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Efficient-market_hypothesis 4. Wretch (21 February 2006), â€Å"Efficient Market Hypothesis†, retrieved 1 April 2012, from http://www. wretch. cc/blog/jeysafe/3421966

Study into English Courseware for Slow Learners

Abstract- Current tendency indicate that larning through the usage of application and courseware had become of import instruction method. However, it is different instance for slow scholars. As most schools easy accommodating the more effectual instruction method, they can non maintain up with the flow. Even though there are courseware developed for the slow scholars, the courseware is far from carry throughing their specific demands. Statistic shows that in a US typical schoolroom there will be 3 or 4 slow scholars. In countries of poorness and many low-income urban countries, the kids per schoolroom who could be characterized as slow scholars might be twice that figure. The feature of the slow scholars are frequently described as immature in dealingss, find it hard to work out complex job, work really easy, can easy lose path of clip, unable to execute long-run ends, and have hapless concentration accomplishments. However, they are really good with hands-on stuffs. This paper will show the development of courseware made to learn English for the slow scholars. Keywords-component: courseware ; slow scholars ; English ;IntroductionBackgroundSlow scholars are no longer rare instances in Malaysia. However, they are non categorized as people with particular demands. Some might confound the slow scholars with dyslexia. However, both footings are different. Dyslexic will hold troubles in larning to read and compose despite holding same learning procedure and attempt with others. For slow scholars, they do non make good at schools or undertaking that require extended reading, authorship, and mathematic but they perform great outside category particularly in hands-on undertakings. They will necessitate excess clip in finishing the undertakings given. Because of their features, slow scholars are ever left behind as they can non catch up with the larning procedure gone through by other childs. Even though new engineering has been developed to heighten larning procedure, they are left out because it is non suited for their acquisition demands. This undertaking is intend to heighten the English courseware specifically for the slow scholars in manner that will function their acquisition demands which is different from other childs. The courseware will be focus on non-linear techniques to do it flexible and more contributing for the slow scholars. As there is non much of courseware developed for slow scholars, the merchandise of the undertaking will significantly convey the acquisition procedure for the slow scholars into new degree and lighten up the hope for them to larn like normal childs.Problem StatementTeaching slow scholars is n't same like learning normal childs. Teaching them require different methods and attacks because of their features. As larning procedure traveling on taking advantage of computing machines and cyberspace, slow scholars are left behind because there are no specific acquisition applications for them that will accommodate their demands particularly in critical topics such as Science and Mathematic. There are tonss of courseware in the market out at that place but it is excessively small in Numberss and it is far from perfect. This new courseware to be developed will be a great tool for instructor to learn English to the slow scholars because it will heighten what ‘s already in the courseware a nd do it better.Aims and Scope of SurveiesAimsThe aim of this undertaking is to heighten the current English courseware from Mohd Izzat Helmi Bin Yahya ‘s English Courseware for Slow Learners undertaking and will be specifically designed for the slow scholars so that the acquisition procedure will accommodate their demands. Because of their features, the courseware will necessitate careful designation.. The courseware will enrich English larning procedure which already in the current courseware and do it more synergistic and flexible.Scope of SurveiesThe undertaking will affect the survey of slow scholar behaviour and courseware development. The consequence of the survey so will be analyzed to develop and heightening cognitive accomplishments developing that will be integrated with the courseware so that the mark to learn slow scholars can be achieved. Target group of the courseware will be primary school pupil in Standard 4 to Standard 6 ( 10-12 old ages old ) . The coursewar e will be developed as a game to learn General English.Literature ReviewGame-Based LearningMarc Prensky ( 2003 ) says that since Pong is introduced in 1974, the alone expertness that game interior decorators have honed to a superfine border is participant battle: the ability to maintain people in their seats for hr after hr, twenty-four hours after twenty-four hours, at ecstatic attending, actively seeking to make new ends, shouting with hilarity at their successes, determined to get the better of their failures, all the piece imploring for more. Along with the new engineering that had been developed in recent old ages, games had become more than merely amusement, it had evolve to go the medium of larning. In Digital Game-Based Learning ( Prensky, 2001 ) , explain that kids presents are different from old coevals where they grow up with digital engineering and their heads are altering to suit the engineerings with which they spend more clip. From at that place, it is clear that most kids today from different gender, ages and societal groups spends most of the clip with video games. Many experts see the values in video games as a medium of larning. Its true that this kids love games more than schools but their attitudes toward games is the attitude of the scholars ; passionate, concerted, and actively affect in problem-solving. Research by Zyda ( 2007 ) argue that computing machine games are an piquant medium for acquisition, since games can excite cognitive procedures such as reading explicit and inexplicit information, deductive and inductive logical thinking, problem-solving, and doing illations from information displayed across a figure of screens To specify game based acquisition will be rather complicated because there are several different sentiment on the affair. Kirjavainen ( 2009 ) specify game-based acquisition as field of research and game design based on observations that play, structured or unstructured, conditions the human encephalon for transmutation and acquisition. Wee Hoe Tan ( 2008 ) defines game-based acquisition as signifier of learner-centered acquisition that uses electronic games for educational intents. However, the construct of game-based acquisition is still the same ; the usage of game with the defined acquisition results for the intent of acquisition. Kasvi ( 2000 ) lists the seven demands for effectual acquisition environment as: Supply a high strength of interaction and feedback ; Have specific ends and established processs ; Be motivational ; Supply a continual feeling of challenge, non excessively hard to be frustrating nor excessively easy to make ennui ; Supply a sense of direct battle on the undertaking involved ; Supply the appropriate tools that fit the undertaking ; and Avoid distractions and breaks that destroy the subjective experience. Kasvi ( 2000 ) suggests that computing machine games fulfill all of these demands and believes that they â€Å" satisfy them better than most other larning mediums † . By looking at how the Western universe had utilised game as larning faculty in schoolroom, it proves that the statement is true. R.V. Eck ( 2006 ) explain that games like Civilization, SimCity 4, Cruise Ship Tycoon, and Roller Coaster Tycoon had already been implemented in schoolroom. Peoples might be disbelieving at first glimpse. All these games have prove them incorrect. For illustration, in Roller Coaster Tycoon pupils build roller-coasters to different specifications, which is what applied scientists should make. By widening the gameplay with basic larning procedure like calculus physic cognition, it will do a valuable acquisition experience.Slow Learners in MalayaIn Malaysia, dyslexic kids had begin to have attending when MyLexics, a courseware to assist the dyslexic learn basic Malay linguistic communicat ion is introduced ( Haziq, 2009 ) . However, it ‘s a different narrative for the slow scholars. In fact, there are instances reported where slow scholars are left behind in the categories ( NST, 2008 ) . Cases like this should n't go on because even though they are weak in survey they are decidedly really good in other facets. Even worse, One in every three juvenile delinquent in unity school in prison or detainment centres shows larning troubles including being slow scholars. ( The Star, 2008 ) Many believe that if these young person non identified and helped will do them to stop up as felons. Most of them tend to drop out of schools and vulnerable to negative influence because of the job they facing.Get the better ofing the FailingsResearch by LearningRX ( 2006 ) argue that weak cognitive accomplishments are the cause of larning disablements such as dyslexia and decelerate acquisition. Important accomplishments such as concentration, perceptual experience, memories and logical thought are non every bit good as other normal people which make reading, authorship, and believing more hard. However, this failing can be improved through specific preparation and testing. Mel Levine ( 2008 ) explain that how Kitty Hawk Elementary School in North Carolina America had implied School Attuned Program utilizing the N eurodevelopmental Profiles where all pupils with different cognitive accomplishments can larn. Lisa Galleli, a instructor at Kitty Hawk describes her direction program for one such pupils as â€Å" He had important graphomotor failings with spelling and authorship. But he truly shined in his societal accomplishments and that made all the difference in the universe. He was besides good at math and job resolution. We use his strength who keep him motivated with success while undertaking his authorship job. † The consequence had proved that it is non impossible to get the better of the failing. Neurodevelopmental Profile is researched and synthesized by Mel Levine and his co-workers consist of 8 concepts that are: Table 1: 8 concepts of Neurodevelopmental Profiles Attention This includes the ability to concentrate, concentrate on one thing instead than another, finish undertakings, and command what one says and does Temporal-sequential ordination Whether it ‘s being able to declaim the alphabet or forcing a response button on Jeopardy, being able to understand the clip and sequence of pieces of information is a cardinal constituent of acquisition. Spatial ordination The ability, for case to separate between a circle and square or to utilize images to retrieve related information Memory Even if people are able to understand, form, and construe complex information at the minute, their inability to shop and subsequently remember can dramatically impact their public presentation. Language Developing linguistic communication maps involves luxuriant interaction between assorted parts of the encephalon that control such abilities as pronouncing words, understanding different sounds and groking written symbols Neuromotor maps The encephalon ‘s ability to organize motor or musculus map is cardinal to many country of acquisition, including authorship and keyboarding. Social knowledge One of the most unmarked constituents of acquisition is the ability to win in societal relationship with equal force per unit area. Higher-order knowledge This involve the ability to understand and implement the stairss necessary to work out jobs, attack new countries of acquisition and believe creatively. By recognizing that every homo have some strong maps and some weak 1s, Mel Levine found that it is possible to depict each person ‘s alone mix of strength and failings. Using the right method in developing the courseware and the right attack for the slow scholars, it is non impossible that this courseware will be decidedly assist them.Formative VS Summative EvaluationIn order to garner informations for the sweetening of the courseware, an appraisal demand to be done. There are two methods to be used ; formative rating and summational rating. Harmonizing to H.L Roberts ( 2009 ) , formative ratings besides known as developmental or execution rating assess what works and what does non work about a peculiar activity or undertaking as it is go oning. It is used to measure the value of a undertaking as it is taking topographic point to find how it can be improved. The method usage in formative rating is the same like other appraisal which include study, interview or informations aggregation. This type of rating relies on qualitative informations that is how participants felt about the procedure every bit good as quantitative informations, such as charts or trial tonss. Formative rating typically involves a little group of users and participants in the undertaking being evaluated. Participants in formative ratings look non merely at the ends of the procedure and whether those ends are achieved but besides at the procedure itself and where that procedure is a successful one or non. Even though this type of appraisal is rather co mplex, there are benefit in it. It allow early designation of possible job in the topic of appraisal. Furthermore, it can be a good manner of gage the user perceptual experience on the topic because it rely on user feedback. As for summational rating, Fox Valley Technical College ( 2007 ) depict it as procedure that concerns concluding rating to inquire if the undertaking or plan met its ends. It is cumulative in nature. It concentrates on scholar results instead than merely the plan of direction where the purpose is to find the user ‘s command and apprehension of information, construct, accomplishment or procedure. Ongoing summational appraisal represents of import tools for supervising the advancement across clip. There are assorted method of summational appraisal such as presentation, licensing, internship, portfolio or clinical. Summational rating is typically quantitative, utilizing numeral tonss or missive classs to measure learner accomplishment. In a sense, it lets the scholar know â€Å" how they did † and â€Å" how good they are † However, there ‘s more to it. By looking at how the scholar ‘s did, it helps to cognize whether the merchandise teaches what it is su pposed to learn and how efficient it is. Here the courseware will be utilizing formative rating method. By utilizing formative rating, the current English courseware functionality can be assessed to happen out whether its working to absolutely or not.. Even if the courseware is working decently, it wo n't carry through its aims if the user ( in this instance pupil ) do n't wish it or holding job in utilizing it. By utilizing formative rating method, user feedback can be recorded and country of betterment can be found. In decision, formative rating method will measure the courseware from two positions ; the courseware functionality and user feedback. Both will greatly assist in the enhancement procedure of the current courseware.MethodologyThrow-Away PrototypingThe methodological analysis chosen for the undertaking would be Throw-Away Prototyping. Dummy paradigm, which is presentational merely will be developed. Thorough analysis will be done before first silent person paradigm is developed to guarantee the paradigm have eno ugh inside informations stand foring existent working system. From at that place, the silent person paradigm will be shown and tested with the user to acquire feedback and identify extra demand. The following paradigm will be developed until it truly visualise existent working system. When it is ready and all issues are resolved, it will be implemented as fully-functional system. Figure 1: Throw-Away PrototypingPlaningThe planning stage is the important 1 in developing the undertaking. First thing to be considered is how the undertaking will be developed. For that, the Gantt Chart for the undertaking is build so that each undertaking milepost during the one twelvemonth of the undertaking can be tracked. Other than that, research is made to happen suited tool to be used for the development of the undertaking. As the undertaking intended to heighten the current courseware, research besides made to place suited trial topic to seek the current courseware.Initial AnalysisDuring this stage, the trial scenario is developed and interview every bit good as questionnaire is build to acquire informations from the mark school. Data is gathered every bit much as possible which besides include slow scholar course of study in school and from there thorough analysis is done. The intent is to place strengths, failings, country of betterment and what to be done for the enhance ment procedure.Prototype BuildingAfter all analysis has been done, the design of the courseware begins. A study is done to acquire the overview of new courseware to be developed. The study will gone through polish to incorporate the content and multimedia elements ( lifes, flow of information, etc ) . The inside informations of the design will be recorded. After all inside informations completed, the development of the paradigm Begin. When the silent person paradigm is complete with all needed characteristics, it will so prove at the school to happen whether it visualise all the issue that should be addressed. If farther polish is required, the silent person paradigm will continuously be build until all demands is complete.ExecutionAfter all demands had been fulfilled and the silent person paradigm is truly visualising the courseware, it will be declared to be complete and existent working courseware will be implemented.Research MethodologiesTo acquire all the information required, two research methodological analysiss will be chosen that are: Interview: An interview is conducted with the several instructor of the school. A trial scenario will be deployed to the pupil utilizing the current courseware along with the interview. This is portion of formative rating that will prove the functionality of the courseware and estimate the user on how they use the courseware. The aim is to place the strengths and failings of the current courseware and happen the country of betterment. Questionnaire: The interview and questionnaire will be done with the several instructor to derive in deepness inside informations of how slow scholars learn and gain all relevant informations which will be mention in developing the new courseware.Result & A ; DiscussionRequirement GatheringInterviewIn the manner of garnering informations required for the sweetening of the English courseware, an interview is conducted with Pn Khadijah, Coordinator of Special Education for Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Yusuf who is besides the English instructor for Particular Education Department. Using the current courseware made by Mohd Izzat Helmi B Yahya, a trial scenario is deployed where the end is to place the strengths and the failings of the courseware so that the consequence found can be implemented during the development of new English courseware. The trial scenario will verify the conditions and stairss taken in utilizing the courseware sample to acquire the consequence for farther analysis. Three slow scholar pupils from Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Yusuf take portion in the trial scenario. Below are the inside informations of the three pupils: Answering 1 – A 12 old ages old male child and is fixing for his UPSR following twelvemonth. He falls into the class of normal slow scholar. His public presentation in the category is really good. He has the basic accomplishments of utilizing computing machine which make him able to utilize the sample courseware decently. Answering 2 – A 12 old ages old male child. He falls under the class of slow scholar and Syndrom Down. He has the basic accomplishments of utilizing computing machine which make him able to utilize the sample courseware decently. Answering 3 – A 7 old ages old male child. He merely started his school early this twelvemonth. He is the most ambitious pupil because he falls under the ICU slow scholars class. Furthermore, he does n't hold basic accomplishments of utilizing computing machine which make the trial scenario more hard to be performed. The intent of taking these three pupils is to detect how different classs of slow scholars make usage of and respond to the courseware. Basically, all the pupil use the courseware in the same manner depends on their cognition and accomplishments about computing machine. Below is the sum-up of consequence from the trial scenario done with all three pupils. Table 2: Summary of trial Scenario Result No Simulation Date Action and Data Expected Consequence Actual Consequence 1 12 Apr 2010 Establish the courseware interface Courseware interface appear successfully 2 12 Apr 2010 Establishing subject 1 Subject 1 launched successfully 3 12 Apr 2010 Launch ‘Learn ‘ from subject 1 bill of fare Learning faculty appear successfully 4 12 Apr 2010 Checking sound for subject one Audio working successfully 5 12 Apr 2010 Checking synchronism of audio and ocular flows. Audio and ocular is synchronized Flow of audio and ocular is excessively fast 6 12 Apr 2010 Click the button ‘Play Again ‘ for subject 1 acquisition faculty Audio and ocular rematch 7 12 Apr 2010 Launch ‘Exercise ‘ for subject 1 Exercise launched successfully Exercise for Topic 3 about colourss appear 8 12 Apr 2010 Performing exercising about Numberss Exercise done successfully Exercise can non be performed because exercising for colourss appear 9 12 Apr 2010 Click the button ‘Play Again ‘ for subject 1 exercising Exercise can be redo Exercise appear is non for subject 1 10 12 Apr 2010 Establishing subject 2 Subject 2 launched successfully 11 12 Apr 2010 Launch ‘Learn ‘ from subject 2 bill of fare Learning faculty appear successfully 12 12 Apr 2010 Click and hover on the images of the organic structure parts Audio and visuals working to depict the images Audio working merely if pointer is hovered on the image. When image clicked, nil happened 13 12 Apr 2010 Launch ‘Exercise ‘ for subject 2 Exercise launched successfully 14 12 Apr 2010 Drag the words into the several organic structure portion Wordss dragged successfully Because there are some input of the exercising non in the acquisition faculty of subject 2, pupil get confused easy 15 12 Apr 2010 Click the button ‘Play Again ‘ for subject 1 exercising Exercise can be redo 16 12 Apr 2010 Establishing subject 3 Subject 1 launched successfully 17 12 Apr 2010 Launch ‘Learn ‘ from subject 3 bill of fare Learning faculty appear successfully 18 12 Apr 2010 Click and hover on the images of the colour. Audio and visuals working to depict the images Audio appear when the image is clicked. When it is hovered nil happened 19 12 Apr 2010 Launch ‘Exercise ‘ for subject 3 Exercise launched successfully 20 12 Apr 2010 Draging each colour into the several jar. Each colour dragged successfully 21 12 Apr 2010 Tax return to courseware interface from any point of the courseware Courseware interface appear successfully Other that that, Pn Khadijah says that, the instruction course of study and method are different from the mainstream course of study. They use preschool course of study in their acquisition faculties However, if they show good public presentation the instructor will fix them to be in national scrutiny like UPSR. More information about the interview will be explained in the following subdivision below.QuestionnaireIn order to acquire in-depth inside informations of demands of the courseware to be developed, interviews and questionnaire is conducted with the several instructors of the schools. This is of import because non all required informations can be acquired through the trial scenario appraisal. The instructor replying the questionnaire is Pn Khadijah, Coordinator of Special Education for Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Yusuf. She has old ages of experience in learning slow scholars particularly in English topic. Pn Khadijah is given the overview of the current English courseware and s o she is given the questionnaire. Below is the consequence of questionnaire answered by the instructor:Datas AnalysisFrom the interview and questionnaire conducted with pupils and instructor of Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Yusuf, there are several issue should be addressed about the current English courseware and besides what can be improved for the courseware to be developed: Flow of audio and ocular must be synchronized and non excessively fast because slow scholars could n't catch up if it ‘s excessively fast For unknown ground, exercising for Topic 1 that should cover about Numberss is replaced with exercising from Topic 3 which is about colorss consequences in holding two exercisings about colorss and the absences of exercising about figure. The direction is different than what can be done in the acquisition faculty. For illustration the direction of subject 2 says to snap the image to hear the sound. But alternatively, the sound merely look when pointer is hovered on the image. Nothing happened when it is clicked. Input signal of the exercising should be the same as what it appears in the acquisition faculties to avoid confusion for slow scholars. For illustration, the input of the exercising for subject 2 includes the tummy portion even though it is non taught in the acquisition faculties. Input of larning faculties should n't be more than 5 in a subject because slow scholars could easy bury what they learn if there ‘s excessively many input. Slow scholars in Malaysia are familiar with the Malaysia English. Using U.S English or Britain English in the courseware would confound them. Students particularly childs like larning utilizing computing machine. Slow scholars are non excluded. So the courseware to be developed must be visually attractive.Proposed System ArchitectureFigure 2: Proposed System Architecture The courseware will incorporate usage suited multimedia elements that will back up synergistic acquisition environment either for the usage at school or at place. This will do the acquisition procedure will be more piquant and entertaining. The courseware will dwell of 3 faculties chiefly developed for pupils of Standard 4 to Standard 6. All this faculties will be developed based on larning course of study for slow scholars from Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Yusuf. After the application is launched, pupils will be accessing the courseware interface. To guarantee the flexibleness of the acquisition procedure, pupils will be given freedom to take which faculty they want to utilize. After each faculty there will be exercising that will prove the pupil ‘s understand of the current subject. However, pupils are free to take whether they want to make the exercising or non. If they do n't desire to make the exercising, they can continue to following faculty or return to the courseware interface to take other faculties. In turn toing that slow scholars can non get by with excessively much input at a clip, each faculty will dwell of two parts. This will enable the pupils to enrich their acquisition without taking excessively much input at a clip. They have the freedom to take which portion they want to utilize in a faculty. The three faculties are: Numbers, Reading Skills, Body Parts.Faculty 1: NumbersThe first faculty will learn the pupils the fou ndation of acknowledging Numberss. The first portion will learn about how to place ordinal and central Numberss and what ‘s the difference about them. The 2nd portion will learn the pupil how to distinguish between uneven Numberss and even Numberss utilizing the same faculties in current English courseware with sweetening made on it.Faculty 2: Reading SkillsThis faculty is intended to heighten the reading accomplishments of the students.. The activity in the first portion will be focus on duplicate image. Each clip a image from two sets of images will be shown to the pupil and from there the pupils will be asked to fit the image with the image from the set which is non shown. The 2nd portion will concentrate on duplicate missive and words. The construct will be the same like in the first portion.Faculty 3: Body PartssThis faculty will learn the pupil the foundation of placing organic structure parts. The first portion will learn the pupil about chief organic structure parts in general. The 2nd portion will learn the pupil specifically about parts on caput The tools chosen for the development of the undertaking will be Gamemaker 8. The ground to utilize this tool is because it is easy to be used compared to most of other tools. It allow the user to utilize aggregation of freeware images and sound for starting motors like the writer to do a game looking courseware which will embrace on drag-and-drop action utilizing the mouse. This tool will be used along with other tools like Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Macromedia Flash where necessary to do the courseware more synergistic and rich.DecisionCurrent English courseware is utilizing basic construct of uniting sound with ocular in the instruction. Even though, it is still non perfect. There is tonss of country for betterment can be made for the courseware. The writer ‘s undertaking will take the chance to do sweetening on the courseware to maximise its possible. The new courseware to be developed will be more synergistic and rich piece in the same clip turn toing the issue of current cour seware. With aid from assorted parties such as the writer ‘s supervisor, Miss Elaine, instructors of Sekolah Kebangsan Sultan Yusuf every bit good as other people, this undertaking will win.RecognitionThe current courseware mentioned in this paper is developed by Mohd Izzat helmi B Yahya where his work had been base for the writer ‘s English courseware developed for slow scholars. Here the writer besides would wish to thank Ms. Elaine Chen Yoke Yie as the supervisor for the undertaking, Pn Khadijah, Coordinator of Special Education for Sekolah Kebangsaan Sultan Yusuf, and all other parties who had contribute to the undertaking whether straight or indirectly.