Activity Based Costing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Activity Based Costing - Essay Example The manufacturers or service providers can avoid manufacturing of unprofitable products and also they can lower the price of their overpriced products or services using this method. But it is not necessarily that every time the ABC method will bring the positive results alone or in other words the success rate of activity based costing may not be 100% all the time. In this essay, the methodology of ABC, its positives and negatives are all discussed in a brief manner. Each manufacturing units will have often different products. The consumer demand for some of their products may be high while some other products of the same company may not be popular in the market. For example, a tire manufacturing company, most likely to manufacture tires, for passenger cars, trucks, aircrafts and motor bikes etc. It is not necessary for them to have all their products moving in the market equally well. Suppose the car tires manufactured by the company moving excellent, the truck tires moving good, th e motor bike tire moving fair while aircraft tires moving poorly in the market. Because of the variations in demand the volume of the production of different tires will be adjusted by the company. The company will allocate more resources to the passenger car tire building compared to other types of tires. The technology and resources required to manufacture the aircraft tires is more complicated than the others. Lot of complicated processes is involved in the manufacturing of the aircraft tires though its movements in the market are dull. Mostly Activity Based Costing 3 because of the less movement in the market, only few machine activities will be allocated to the aircraft tire by the company. So if the company calculates the price of the tires based on the machine activity alone, the aircraft tire price must be less compared to others because of less machine activity. But since ABC considers all activities related to the manufacturing of a product, both direct and indirect, fixed cost and variable cost, etc, the company can determine the price of each product logically. If enough demand is there, mass production of product can effectively cut down the unit price of the product. China has successfully implemented such a strategy of mass production and

Alcoholic Anonymous Essay Example for Free

Alcoholic Anonymous Essay What I learned from Alcoholic Anonymous is that AA is meant for people who promise that they will never drink again and they drink again anyways. Its singleness purpose identifies that alcoholics work best with other alcoholics and the only difference from the twelve step fellowships out there is the first part of the first step and the middle part of the twelfth step. What I am powerless over and who we carry the message too? Many alcoholics in AA raise their hands introducing themselves as alcoholics, but never knew what it meant. In the Speakers meeting the groups felt really connected with the speaker, and gave him their full-undivided attention. The groups focused solely on the speaker and no one else, it was mainly white, black, and Hispanic men and women of all different ages starting from their early twenties up to their mid fifties. Around thirty people attended on October 21st at eight o’clock. The meeting was very humorous the speaker knew how to relate to the AA members by bringing his personal life experiences with alcohol to distribute his indication on the importance of sobriety. The speaker knew how to make the environment funny, happy, and outgoing. The speaker often referred to the Big Book specifying the hopeless condition and mind of the body. The first step is understanding the problem, the solution, and the program of action to bring back the solution. The main reason the speaker joined AA was because he could not imagine not drinking at all. The Big Book states that unless identification takes place then little or nothing can be accomplished. For the speaker the first step is the key in following through all the other steps. The question the speaker raised was what does it mean to be an alcoholic? He mentioned that one happens when he drinks it and the other happens when he does not drink it. Other than that he had a pretty good way of handling alcohol. The speaker always knew when to state his jokes. He described alcoholism as a physical allergy coupled with a mental obsession. The phenomenon the he craves when he wants a drink never occurs in the average drinker. This triggered a phenomenon craving to desire alcohol. An allergy meant that it was an abnormal physical reaction and the manifestation always showed up. The body of an alcoholic is quite abnormal as its mind. He got to AA not knowing how to explain his behaviors, and why he kept promising that he was not going to drink anymore and does it again repeatedly. The speaker always stated that he never knew the reason why he did it, his only reason was that he just did. Alcohol triggered a craving bigger than him that he couldn’t overcome. Men and women drink because they like the effect produced by alcohol. The sensation was so illusive for him that the quantities and qualities started to move around. The sensation he received from alcohol was so strong that he could not differentiate the truth from the false. Today looked a whole lot like yesterday and yesterday looked a whole lot like last week and it seemed that he was doing just enough to get by. The speaker viewed his alcoholic life as the only normal one. His observations to the way he reacts to alcohol wouldn’t mean him anything if he didn’t take the first drink. The alcohol craving is in his mind rather than in his body. His physical allergy to alcohol is not his biggest problem his biggest problem is that he gets restless, irritable, and discontented. All his problem happen to him when he is sober, and his main problem was that he could not stop starting because his problems will not go away when he stops drinking. He couldn’t choose whether he was going to drink or not. He related to the audience that he loved pawned shops because it was a pure equation to him. He could walk in with a deer rifle and walk out with the money. He never had a pawnbroker ask him what is he going to do with the money. His only problem was that he did not own a lot of stuff so he had to pawn things that did not belong to him. This created hard feelings around his family. He was poorly treated as a child that he finally ran away at the age of 47, and never went back. I learned that alcoholics make awesome plans but their plans work right up to where they don’t work anymore. The speaker tried to pull some kind of scam that would get everything out of the pawnshop. He pulled an insurance scam and had enough money to get everything out but had to stop for one drink and he was blackout for five days and only remembers 30 seconds of it. He lost the power of choice and control. His life was becoming unmanageable and his first step was to admit he could not manage drinking.

Electric Commuter Train Or Commuter Rail Tourism Essay

Electric Commuter Train Or Commuter Rail Tourism Essay Electric commuter train or commuter rail is a passenger rail transport service between a city center and commuter towns that draw large numbers of people who travel on a daily basis. Commuter trains are usually optimized for maximum passenger volume, in most cases without sacrificing too much comfort and luggage space, though they seldom have all the amenities of long-distance trains. This service provided by the government in order to give more convenience towards people for urban and rural areas to move (White, 2002). The service is able to meets the requirement and desire through the perception of Malaysian citizen towards the service quality of commuter train by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB). The service quality in the commuter train can be measured by SERVQUAL dimension which is focuses in term of tangibles, reliability and responsiveness (Parasuraman et. al., 1985). According to Wiki, SERVQUAL was originally measured on 10 aspects of  service quality: reliability, respo nsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding the  customer  and tangibles. It measures the gap between customer expectations and experience. The service quality of the commuter train becomes important issue in order to have better and comfortable environment. The service quality of the public transport in that area seems unsatisfied and average level, which are physical facilities in term of cleanliness and comfortableness, punctuality, frequencies and responsiveness of the driver and conductor of the public transports. Is it the services quality of the commuter train is really implemented well in this country whether in urban or rural areas? This is because more allocation provided to reconstruct the quality of public transport. Therefore these researches try to investigate the perception of the Malaysian citizen towards the service qualities of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB). Background of the study In Malaysia, KTM commuter is the one of the electrified commuter train service that operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB). It was first introduced in 1995 to cater people especially in Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding suburban areas and it is a popular mode of transport for people who are working in Kuala Lumpur as they can travel to the city without being caught in traffic congestion. KTM commuter is currently the most profitable passenger service offered by KTMB, contributing RM84.63 million to group revenue in 2006, higher than KTM Intercitys profit of RM70.94 million in the same year (Nathan and Darshini, 2007). KTM commuter has attracted a significant number of passengers in the transportation market. According to the Ministry of Transport Malaysia 2008 Statistics; the annual ridership for KTM commuter was 36,557 millions of passengers (MOT, 2008). This study is important for KTMB generally and KTM commuter specifically to improve their services especially trains services. Having the information gathered from this study, they can look for effective ways in overcoming these problems and be more competitive in their services since the respondents for this study are KTM commuter customers themselves. From the findings of this study, the management can be made aware of the problems that they are facing everyday and the come up with proactive actions to provide better services to the customers. In return, the customers will enjoy a better quality of services in the future. Research objectives The objectives of the study are: To assess the service quality perceived by passengers of Malaysian citizen who ride the KTM commuter To examine factors influencing the good services provided by KTM commuter. Problem statement The current issues and problems regards in the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) public transports is the time arrival and time travel delaying. Many customers or passengers when went and used that service they was not satisfied with the service quality provided by this KTM B after used the KTM commuter service in term of punctuality and frequencies of train arrive. This issue showed even the public transportation is modernized and in the urban areas but service quality is still lacking and not well implemented. This will lead to negative perception and not satisfy the consumer using the public transports (Karen Thompson, Peter Schofield 2002). The problem of time arrival delaying was related with the other problem which is the space in the KTM commuter. This is because insufficient space to carry more passengers and others whereby the congestion occurred. Nowadays people out there mostly using a public transport like commuter as their transport so, the chance of increase passenger s are higher than before. So when the space of KTM commuter limited and crowded it will become worse to passengers to use and went it. Significant of the study Today the need for an efficient and effective public transportation service like KTM commuter is becoming more importance in order to overcome these problems especially in the Klang Valley. Besides that, many transportation companies are competing with each other to attract as many customers and gain more profit. It is imperative that KTM commuter needs to become more progressive and aggressive to compete with the competitors because nowadays, customers are becoming more demanding with the quality of the service. The want value for money that is they expect the service quality that they received from the service providers equals or exceeds what they had paid for (Mitra Lagerstrom, 2002). Reliability is focusing on frequencies and punctuality of the public transport arrives on time and able to meet the perception expectation of the user. Reliability means the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately (Parasuraman, et. al., 1988). The measuring arrival of the pu blic transport at the destination on time is of limited usefulness and will give positive impact towards the public expectation and perceptions. The punctuality measured in term of time arrival and departure is important elements in reliability service quality of dimension. Theoretical framework Speed Punctuality Service quality Space Frequency Safety Reliability Train operationDEPENDENT VARIABLES Comfort INDEPENDENT VARIABLES Research hypothesis There are three hypothesis developed in this study: Hypothesis 1 : There is a significant difference between dimension of tangible and service quality of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) Hypothesis 2 : There is a significant difference between dimension of reliability and service quality of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) Hypothesis 3 : There is a significant difference between dimension of responsiveness and service quality of the Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) Task 2 (LOC 3 : AC 3) Introduction Literature review is a documentation of a comprehensive review of the published and unpublished work from secondary sources of data in the areas of specific interest to the researcher. Past research on the phenomenon under investigation must play key role in the process of problem formulation. Literature review Customer satisfaction According to our team survey , most of the people satisfied with KTMB services meanwhile there are some services that KTMB are not doing well in their job customer satisfaction are important because customer are judging by services based on pricing that KTMB create. KTMB also have to improve their services based on doing a survey, give a recommendation to customer itself, on other hand the customer also have to give their opinion on what there want or like. Customer loyalty Customer loyalty always follows satisfaction, which is determined from the service quality offered by the KTMB. It is also one of the most frequently used indicators to measure the success of a marketing strategy. Research methodology Introduction The word methodology is the method that any researcher used with appropriate steps, method, technique and tools together with the approaches taken in the research process. Data collection Primary data Primary data is used for this research and the data is obtained using self-administered questionnaires. The questionnaire comprised of two sections. The first section is designed to capture the respondents demographic. The questions asked in this section are related to the respondents gender, nationality, ethnicity, age, marital status, and occupation. The second section is designed to measure the customers perceptions towards various dimensions of services performance in KTM commuter service. The questionnaires are distributed among customers on board the train and those waiting for trains in the stations between 8 October to 10 October 2010. The sample for this study consists of 50 respondent in Batang Benar station. Secondary data According Kotler and Armstrong, secondary data can be defined as information that already exists somewhere, having been collected for another purpose. It may be available from internal sources, or may have been collected and published by another organization. Secondary data usually can be obtained more quickly and at lower price than primary data as researchers can gain the needed data in form of government reports and statistics, company reports and accounts, articles or journals in internet and reports in newspapers. Besides, the data that has been collected can be used to get a new perspective on the current study, to compare the work from previous findings or to use as a reference for future study. The table below shows the secondary sources that will be used in carrying out the research. Sources Explanation Books Literary work by professionals that relates to the food and beverage industry, guides on conducting research projects, as well as information on data of previously conducted research. Internet The internet offers unlimited sources of information that caters to all topic areas. Journals Journals are a good source of secondary data, as they may contain vital information of a certain period of time. Past Research Data from previous research can be used to compare the statistics and other information Task 3 (LOC 3 : AC 4 and LOC 4 : AC 1 and AC 2) Here are more ideas as to how to solve the problem on transportation. This research can understand for simplicity why KTMB designate their routes Seremban-Rawang and Sentul-Port Klang. But being so rigid about it can lead to adverse effects. Most people who take the KTM commuter are doing it to get in and out of the city (e.g. Subang Jaya-Sentral). Or users who just want to travel down the line (e.g. Seremban-Kajang). Although there must be people who use it to cross the Klang Valley (e.g. Seremban-Rawang), they are not in the majority. The way the service routes are designed, it seems silly why these trains have to make one full journey back and forth each branch for every run. Actual fact, delays at one part of the system can lead to other trains being delayed elsewhere, further down the line. For example, a Rawang-Seremban service might be delayed simply because somewhere in Kajang, there is a delay. In other words, researcher suggesting that the operations of these services should be made somewhat a bit more independent to each other. KTMB should consider introducing a variety of routes. Other than that, at not so busy hours, they should maintain their current service routes, as usual. But at peak hours: Seremban-Tasik Selatan Passengers take the Sri Petaling LRT or KLIA Transit to continue their journeys. Rawang-Bank Negara Passengers take the Sri Petaling and Ampang LRT to continue their southward journeys. Reduce service on the Sentul KTM branch passengers can hope off at Bank Negara to continue on the Sri Petaling and Ampang LRT. Introduce express services that bypass not-so busy stations. Introduce services that start and terminate at busy stations like Subang Jaya, Serdang etc. Construct a Komuter station at Abdullah Hukum to allow westerly passengers to bypass Sentral (and finally putting Abdullah Hukum to good use). Continue serving the usual full Rawang-Seremban and Sentul-Port Klang routes but at low frequencies. With the savings of rolling stock, couple those together to serve busy routes. The delays experienced by KTM commuter users seem to be with regards to clashing intercity and freight trains, and usually this is most severe in KL, from the Jalan Bangsar Junction to Jalan Kuching. Naturally the most sensible thing would be to schedule all trains, and make sure they follow their schedules. But they dont, for reasons sometimes beyond KTMs control. There is the issue of different grades of service on different lines. KLIA Transit, being the most posh, followed by the LRTs and Monorail and the KTM commuter at the bottom. And with this, also have different fares for similar journeys. For example, for the journey Bandar Tasik Selatan to KL Sentral Komuter RM1.00 KLIA Transit RM4.20 Sentul to Bandaraya/Bank Negara (although Sentul KTM and LRT are at different places) Komuter RM1.00 LRT RM1.40 It is also inevitable that KTM has to Improve on its scheduling and also further computerization with traffic control. Increase in capacity by acquiring more rolling stock to articulate the current trains and to have more train sets in service. Improve its station quality as well as integration with other rail lines. C:UsersANNA HBCRDesktopKlktm.gif Finding To find effectiveness of KTMB as a public transportation KTMB was an effective way to travel as a public transportation. KTMB was the respondents choice as a public transportation to travel around Rawang-Seremban, Sentul-Port Klang. Alternative public transportation that the respondents choose was bus. To identify the areas covered by KTMB KTMB covers the area that the respondents were going therefore it showed that the respondent were happy and satisfied with the areas covered by KTMB. The areas that had been covered by KTMB was close to the respondent workplace and to Mid Valley which one of a top spot for tourist and people to shop and hang out. To compare the fare of KTMB with other public transportation The researcher found out that the respondent were satisfied with the ticket price of KTMB compared with the price of other public transportation. The factor that many respondents were satisfied was the fare price is cheaper than taking other public transportation. KTMB was close to the place that many respondents were going therefore KTMB was the majority respondents choice of transportation. To analyze the frequency of travelers using KTMB transportation The researcher found out that the travelling frequency for KTMB was adequate for respondents as many of the respondents used this service to travel around Rawang-Seremban, Sentul-Port Klang. Important factor would be that the respondents used this service because their workplace is situated in KL Central, Mid Valley and etc also to avoid traffic jams. Gantt Chart for Research Project Proposal Activity Start Date Duration (days) End Date Proposal 14/9/2011 3 17/9/2011 Survey Methodology 14/9/2011 1 15/9/2011 Literature Review: 18/9/2011 12 10/9/2011 Authors 18/9/2011 7 25/9/2011 Government Publications 27/9/2011 7 4/10/2011 Questionnaire Preparation 5/10/2011 1 6/10/2011 Interview and Survey 6/10/2011 2 8/10/2011 Tally and Analyze Survey Questionnaire 8/10/2011 1 9/10/2011 End Discussion and Conclusion 9/10/2011 1 10/10/2011 14/9/2011 8/10/2011 25/10/2011 6/10/2011 Proposal Survey Methodology Literature Review: Authors Government Publications Questionnaire Preparation Interview and Survey Tally and Analyze Survey à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ End Discussion and Conclusion Start Date Duration (days) Task 4 (LOC 4 : AC 3) Conclusion and recommendation Findings of this study have important practical to management of quality of the Malaysian rail services. This study demonstrates the usefulness as a measure of service quality. The measurement scale also serves to identify symptoms and the underlying problems that inhibit the effective provision of quality services in rail transport. Once the attributes of rail services from the customers perspective are more clearly known and understood, its service providers will be in a better position to anticipate consumer requirements rather than to react to consumer dissatisfaction. The attributes of reliability and tangibles have been identified by respondents to be the most important dimensions of service quality. These two dimensions were also found to have the highest gap (perception minus expectation), implying that customers expectation of reliability and tangibles dimensions of the railway services are not met by KTMB. Although these findings cannot be generalized to the overall passenger profile, KTMB should use it as an impetus to assess their services, particularly to study ways of improving on their reliability and tangibles dimensions. KTMB management could start by improving on staff training, especially to train their staff to be more professional and courteous when dealing with customers. The public confidence of KTMB has to be gained and the best way is for the management to look at improving on aspects such as reliability of services, improving physical facilities, training of staff and communicating precise information on train schedules. In view of the intense competition in the transport sector with the opening of the North-South Highway, it is imperative that the management of KTMB carry out more research to discover any shortfalls in service quality and to take necessary corrective measures in case of a shortfall. This could ensure that the service quality of KTMB provides the best to its consumers in order to compete effectively with other modes of transport. As the consumer plays a key role in the definition and evaluation of the quality of rail services offered, managers of KTMB should incorporate consumer expectations and perceptions in the formulation of effective long-term marketing strategy. KTM should improved the train service in terms of the punctuality and provide a suitable frequency (for example: every 10 minutes) to reduce congestion at the stations especially during peak hours. This study also recommends that future researchers should come out with the focus groups to compare the opinion between KTMB users with other transportation mode users.

Essay on Whartons Ethan Frome: Tale of the Living Dead :: Ethan Frome Essays

Tale of the Living Dead Ethan Frome, by Edith Warton is truly a tale of the â€Å"living dead†.   Don’t be confused by the way this term is used in movies, where the living dead are corpses that rise from the ground. In this case, the term â€Å"living dead† refers to a person who is physically alive but emotionally dead. In the novel, Ethan Frome all three main characters are emtionally dead.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The characters have been emotionally dead since the "smash-up" in which Ethan and Mattie had crashed their sled into a tree. This crash left them both injured severely. The Fromes were poor before, but after, with Ethan only able to do a little work, they were poorer than ever. Never a social man, Ethan cut off the few relationships that he had maintained so his old friends would not see his poverty. The townspeople speak of Ethan, Mattie, and Zeena in the past tense, just like they refer to dead people. When Mrs. Ned Hale talks about Ethan and Mattie she said, "Yes, I knew them both ... it was awful.." Ethan even talks about himself in the past tense. When asked if science interested him he replied, "It used to." Nothing is happening to Ethan in his present life so he could only refer back to his past one. When Mrs. Hale was asked if she went out to Ethan's house often, she replied, "I used to go a good dea l after the accident, when I was first married; but ..." This visitation is just like that to a graveyard. Right after a person dies his grave is visited often. After awhile relatives and friends get on with their own lives and make these trips rarely.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another reason why the three main characters are emotionally dead is they do not communicate with other people. Mrs. Ned Hale, when remarking on the fact that the narrator had stayed in Ethan's house said, "I don't believe but what you're the only stranger has set foot in that house for over twenty years." All living people communicate with others regularly. Not only did the main characters act like living dead, they looked liked living dead. Edith Wharton describes Zeena: "A slatternly calico wrapper hung from her shoulders and the wisps of her thin grey hair were drawn away from a high forehead and fastened in the back by a broken comb. Essay on Wharton's Ethan Frome: Tale of the Living Dead :: Ethan Frome Essays Tale of the Living Dead Ethan Frome, by Edith Warton is truly a tale of the â€Å"living dead†.   Don’t be confused by the way this term is used in movies, where the living dead are corpses that rise from the ground. In this case, the term â€Å"living dead† refers to a person who is physically alive but emotionally dead. In the novel, Ethan Frome all three main characters are emtionally dead.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The characters have been emotionally dead since the "smash-up" in which Ethan and Mattie had crashed their sled into a tree. This crash left them both injured severely. The Fromes were poor before, but after, with Ethan only able to do a little work, they were poorer than ever. Never a social man, Ethan cut off the few relationships that he had maintained so his old friends would not see his poverty. The townspeople speak of Ethan, Mattie, and Zeena in the past tense, just like they refer to dead people. When Mrs. Ned Hale talks about Ethan and Mattie she said, "Yes, I knew them both ... it was awful.." Ethan even talks about himself in the past tense. When asked if science interested him he replied, "It used to." Nothing is happening to Ethan in his present life so he could only refer back to his past one. When Mrs. Hale was asked if she went out to Ethan's house often, she replied, "I used to go a good dea l after the accident, when I was first married; but ..." This visitation is just like that to a graveyard. Right after a person dies his grave is visited often. After awhile relatives and friends get on with their own lives and make these trips rarely.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Another reason why the three main characters are emotionally dead is they do not communicate with other people. Mrs. Ned Hale, when remarking on the fact that the narrator had stayed in Ethan's house said, "I don't believe but what you're the only stranger has set foot in that house for over twenty years." All living people communicate with others regularly. Not only did the main characters act like living dead, they looked liked living dead. Edith Wharton describes Zeena: "A slatternly calico wrapper hung from her shoulders and the wisps of her thin grey hair were drawn away from a high forehead and fastened in the back by a broken comb.

Coca Cola and Pepsi

*Segmentation of Coca Cola: **Basic segments of coca cola is those people who take this drink regularly. **The target market for coca cola is based on age: youth and younger 15- 25 and 40 age. Another factors are income and family size. **Target is not based on gender , both gender likes it. **Key success of coca cola is behavioral segmentation. **Coca Cola generally sells in schools, colleges, universities, restaurants, hotels and fast food stores. Coca Cola has variety of tastes ecause they want to meet customer needs. **Coca cola diet : for diabetic people and aged people 40 plus. **Coca Cola : young people whose age is 16 to 35. **Coca Cola packs and bottles : (based on income level) for students, poor people, middle class and family size. Nature of customer : fun and entertainment loving. Socio-economic level :upper lower and lower class. Occupation : student and family oriented people. **Coca Cola prefer to serve its product in those places where young eople gather mostly. coca cola customers are mainly teenagers and young adults **it is the highest selling cold drink above the world.? **The main theme of coca cola is â€Å"open happiness† coca cola packaging attracts the young generation attention very much. *Positioning statement: Coca Cola provides the best quality and taste in an affordable price. *Segmentation of Pepsi: **Pepsi has same market purposes like Coca Cola. Pepsi has also different kinds of soft-drink productin order to appeal to different ustomers. **Pepsi customers are mostly teenagers and young adults between the ages of 14 to 30. *Positioning of pepsi: **PepsiCo main slogan is – â€Å"Generation Next! † It spends billions of dollars in order to affect people and find creative slogan in every year. Pepsi is a cold drink which gave the best taste, low fat in a reasonable spending. Coca Cola is successful corporation because they have further plan to impess people and have good stategy to sell products in right places .

Assessment and Learning Essays

Assessment and Learning Essays Assessment and Learning Essay Assessment and Learning Essay Assessment and learning Assignment 1 Student results are used to review the quality and standards of teaching within the college. My students do a Btec level 2 which is graded from a pass to distinction based on the level of criteria the student achieve during each assignment. The students also do an NVQ in sport excellence. This is also graded from a pass to distinction depending on the quality of work provided through the year. The students Btec work is marked by me using the criteria which has been set by Btec. Each assignment is marked and then an overall grade is give to each unit which has been studied. The students work is also marked by an internal verifier who ensures I am marking the work correctly and giving the grades in accordance to the standards which are set by Btec. This verification also ensures that all teachers are marking consistently at the same level in the same course in different lessons. The college use these pass grades and course completion rates to assess the quality of teaching in th e college so if the grades start to slip the college can give assistance to the teachers where necessary. The college also use these grades and pass rates to market the college and maintain the profile of the courses within the college. The course work is also externally verified by Btec to ensure the college marks work to the same standard as other colleges in the country this means that anyone who passes the course will be consistent with others in the country. The college runs a SAR which the teacher can use to review the students progress through the year. The success rates of each student is important to the college as it shows that the standards are consistent and the pass rates will be achieved at the end of the year. If a teacher feels that students are not going to achieve the necessary standards the heads of department will have to look at the scheme of work and how the lessons are being implemented. The college will assist with any changes that may be required as the course could ultimately be dropped if standards are not achieved. The college has an OFSTED inspection which reviews the colleges overall performance. OFSTED report on all aspects of the college from the teaching to the administration of all departments. This inspection is done in every college across the country and OFSTED report on the necessary improvements which need to be made in each college. This is done in order to maintain the national standards of all subjects that are available at college. If the college drops below the national average then OFSTED have to assist the college in increasing the teaching standards within the college to improve the standards. Fair The purpose of the assignment was to determine the progress of learners and to provide adequate feedback that will motivate and assist their development. It was a formative assessment to gain an idea of the current abilities of learners and therefore did not contribute to their final grade. Also it was not constrained by time therefore making it less stressful as opposed to undertaking a summative assessment. iii. The assignment was appropriate for the learners to undertake as it was based on lessons and work that had been carried out previously during the academic year therefore students already had the necessary knowledge and skills to complete assignment. Careful consideration was taken when creating assignment to ensure that what was being assessed matched with what learners had previously learnt. It was vital to make the assignment a practical exercise that accurately measures the competence of learners as this approach was a requirement by the awarding body Edexcel. Using the competence approach of assessment gave learners an insight to the conditions and skills closely related to that of the IT industry. (Get a quote Reference: Anne Cox and Harriet Harper (2000), Planning Teaching and Assessing Learning, London, Greenwich University Press p73) Adjustments were made on the diverse needs of learners to ensure that all learners had equal access and opportunity to complete the assignment. Learners with a disability were given extended time to complete the assignment and had the option of getting assistance from a learning support worker. According to Keeley browne 2007 all educational institutions have had a responsibility to make reasonable adjustments for learners who have a diagnosed learning difficulty or disability and where approrpraite make adjustments to the way they are assessed. Assignment was done within lessons that took place within the IT labs therefore all learners had access to the resources necessary to complete assignment such as Computer, software, internet access etc. Task 3 In education feedback is a very useful tool that is used to assist in the development of learners. The general aims of providing feedback are to encourage learners, correct errors improve performance and reward or penalise certain behaviours (Haines 2004). The manner feedback is communicated to learners can have a positive or negative effect on the students moral, confidence and ultimately their learning experience. Any criticisms of learners work must be constructive in an attempt to encourage, motivate, and highlight areas for concern whilst focus on positives to improve the learning experience. Giving feedback to learners on their work can be done either in a written or verbal format; however the approach used is dependent on the assessment method, and the outcome/results of the assessment. For example if there is a common problem that majority of students have expressed then a verbal group feedback session could be adopted. In this approach to giving feedback, the teacher gives feedback to the whole class. Browne 2007 states that this type of feedback requires thoughtful planning and should be done prior to returning marked assessment in the form of a short introductory part of a teaching lesson. A feedback mechanism that encourages constructive feedback is the feedback sandwich. Docheff (1990) cited in F Butler describes the feedback sandwich as an effective model that comprises of reinforcing informational and motivational phrases. This approach is very useful as it gives learners an indication that they are heading in the right direction, provides critical information on performance; highlighting both strengths and weaknesses and finally encourages learners. Another approach of issuing feedback to learners is the use of feedback sheets with handwritten comments on learners assessed work. According to (Rece) this is an example of a type of written feedback. The use of comments in giving feedback is widely used within education and can be applied to essays, reports, dissertations etc. This is a very effective way of giving feedback as the comments are linked directly to the assessment criteria giving the students a clear understanding on the outcome of their work and any problems in a particular area of the assignment. An example of a comment could be You have carried out an extensive review however wider reading is required on the subject area. The feedback is therefore personalised and tailored to each individual learner. This approach of giving feedback is beneficial for learners as it can be repeatedly reviewed and learners can use it as a point of reference as opposed to verbal feedback. The disadvantage to handwritten comments is that it can be an exhaustive process for teachers to personalise comments to each individual learner. In the process of target setting learners should have an active role as it demonstrates a level of responsibility and accountability for their learning. Targets set should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely (SMART), and agreed on by both the teacher and student. Within learning institutions a typical example of target setting occurs at the beginning of the academic year in the form of Individual learning plans (ILPs). According to Browne 2007 it is a planned route that takes into consideration the needs and abilities of learners to achieve success. The use of ILPs is beneficial as it serves as a guide to what work needs to be completed, and a way of tracking and logging learners progress i.e. outcomes and action plans. Meeting targets can improve the confidence levels and morale of learners; however those who are unsuccessful should be given appropriate support in the form of feedback to acknowledge their errors and ways of improving. Task 4 Continuing to develop ones teaching practice is an integral part of a teachersâ„ ¢ profession. It is important to maintain and acquire new skills to ensure that learners receive a high standard or quality of education. There are a wide range of resources available to teachers that can assist in improving knowledge and skills on assessment issues. A teacher may wish to improve on giving constructive feedback or learn how to create valid, relevant, fair assessments. A very useful approach is to update your skills and knowledge of assessment by researching using books or material available on the World Wide Web. There is a vast amount of books and online material dedicated to providing information on assessment topics e.g. Training to teach in the learning and skills sector by Liz Keeley Browne or tda.gov.uk website. Training to teach in the learning and skills sector provides detailed information on the various types of assessment, designing assessment tasks, using feedback to help learners improve and record keeping. This book is very helpful as it provides templates of assessment tasks, and tests your understanding by using short tasks/exercises. The use of books and online material to enhance your teaching practice is beneficial as it is cost effective, can learn at own pace, provides theory that can be experimented within lessons; however a disadvantage is that it is not practical based and you may find difficulties transferring theory into practice. Learning by observing an experienced teacher such as your mentor is another way of improving your teaching practice. This can be done though observing a teacher issuing coursework or giving feedback to learners, view samples of assessments he/she has issued and seeking advice through discussions. This approach to developing as a teacher is hugely significant as you are able to receive suggestions and advice from an experienced professional and it also improves communication amongst colleagues. Further study or undertaking a course that solely focuses on assessment is a good way of developing. The University of Cambridge offers a course called the certificate of education in the principles and practice of assessment. This is a good way of improving as you obtain knowledge of assessment from specialists whilst receiving a recognised qualification; however it can be an expensive option as the course fee is ?760 per course or ?2210 for three courses. Source (https://cpdsearch.tda.gov.uk/ProvisionDetail.aspxe=fQCguFY5tkyDmYHsxSnw6PN1ukni+elx) Another route available to improve professionally with regards to assessment is to become a marker/examiner for examinations boards such as OCR. A key advantage to this approach is that you do not have to be a qualified teacher to become a marker; however good communication skills and a level 4 qualification, such as a degree is a requirement. Moderation is done frequently throughout the year typically January, June and March (put in Source OCR website and is a good source of earning an extra income whilst providing practical experience of marking learners work. References Armitage. A; Renwick M. (2008) Assessment in FE : a practical guide for lecturers, The Essential FE Toolkit Series, London, Continuum: pp70-80