WAGNER Surname Meaning and Family History

From the Germanic Waganari, meaning wagon-maker or wagon driver, the common occupational surname Wagner was often given to one who transported produce or other goods via high-sided wagons or carts. Among some German populations, especially the Pennsylvania Germans, Wagner also denoted a wagon-maker, wainwright, or cartwright. Wagner is the 7th most common German surname  and 4th most common surname in Austria. Surname Origin: German, English Alternate Surname Spellings:  WAGGONER, WAGONER, WAGENER, WAEGENER, WAGNOR, WAGNER, WAGONNER, WEGENER, WEGNER, VAGNER, VEGENER, VEGNER   Famous People with the WAGNER  Surname Richard Wagner - 19th-century  German conductor and composerJack Wagner - American actor and musicianRobert Wagner - American actorAdolph Wagner - German economistArthur Wagner - Church of England clergyman in Brighton, East  SussexGeorge D. Wagner - Indiana politician and Civil War Union generalJohann Andreas Wagner - German palaeontologist and zoologist Where is the WAGNER Surname Most Common? According to surname distribution from Forebears, WAGNER is the 4th most common surname in both Germany and Austria. It is also fairly common in Luxembourg (5th),  Switzerland (55th), the United States (142nd), Denmark (178th) and Slovakia (363rd). WorldNames PublicProfiler indicates that the Wagner surname is especially common in Saarland, Germany, as well as in both Hungary and Gussing, Austria. It is also prevalent in the German states of Rheinland-Pfalz, Thà ¼ringen, Hessen and Bayern. Genealogy Resources for the Surname WAGNER Meanings of Common German SurnamesUncover the meaning of your German last name with this free guide to the meanings and origins of common German surnames. Wagner Family Crest - Its Not What You ThinkContrary to what you may hear, there is no such thing as a Wagner  family crest or coat of arms for the Wagner surname.  Coats of arms are granted to individuals, not families, and may rightfully be used only by the uninterrupted male line descendants of the person to whom the coat of arms was originally granted. Wagner  Y-Chromosome DNA  Surname ProjectIndividuals with the Wagner surname are invited to participate in this group DNA project in an attempt to learn more about Wagner family origins. The website includes information on the project, the research done to date, and instructions on how to participate. History and Genealogy of the Wagner-Waggoner-Wagoner FamilyOnline digital version (free) of a 1941 book on the descendants of  John Waggoner, born in 1758 in Wasselonne, Alsace, France, who later immigrated to  Maryland. WAGNER  Family Genealogy ForumThis free message board is focused on descendants of Wagner  ancestors around the world. FamilySearch - WAGNER  GenealogyExplore over 3.7  million results from digitized  historical records and lineage-linked family trees related to the Wagner surname on this free website hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. WAGNER  Surname Mailing ListFree mailing list for researchers of the Wagner  surname and its variations includes subscription details and a searchable archives of past messages. DistantCousin.com - WAGNER  Genealogy Family HistoryExplore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Wagner. GeneaNet - Wagner  RecordsGeneaNet includes archival records, family trees, and other resources for individuals with the Wagner  surname, with a concentration on records and families from France and other European countries. The Wagner Genealogy and Family Tree PageBrowse genealogy records and links to genealogical and historical records for individuals with the Wagner  surname from the website of Genealogy Today.----------------------- References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil.  Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Dorward, David.  Scottish Surnames. Collins Celtic (Pocket edition), 1998. Fucilla, Joseph.  Our Italian Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 2003. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges.  A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick.  Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Reaney, P.H.  A Dictionary of English Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1997. Smith, Elsdon C.  American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997. Back to  Glossary of Surname Meanings Origins

Cultural Impacts Of Native American Culture - 1559 Words

Culture is intertwined throughout out everything that Native Americans are. Their religion, way of survival, justice system, holistic views, and so much more, comprise their culture. Over the past 200 plus years, Native Americans have been subjected and forced to conform to European derived ideology. This has impacted Native Americans culture from a past, present, and future perspective. These perspectives will be addressed as well as combined into one. Native Americans have always been present throughout the United States history. Often times they were viewed as bystanders and helpers as the United States first took form as a nation. From a historical standpoint, Native Americans have only been recognized for good when they provided†¦show more content†¦Frequently, Christians would venture out to Native American tribes in hopes that they would help civilize their culture. Additionally, the criminal justice system also found their worldview as immoral and threatening. This perspective on Native Americans did not change until the early twentieth century when policy concerning assimilation began to transform. The transformation wanted to move away from assimilation to the preservation of Native American art, culture and to protect Indian rights. Shortly after in the 1920’s when the BIA was under President Franklin Roosevelt helped establish a movement where Native American religious beliefs and practices go under admin istrative, legislative and court protection. The result from this new leadership did not result in an easy fix to Native Americans and how their culture has been criminalized. The Native Americans and the Criminal Justice System book addresses three of many ways Native Americans have historically been denied the first amendment right, through the free exercise clause. This was done by denying the use of Peyote in ceremonies. Where Europeans were attempting to eliminate the use of peyote dating back to 1620. Later on, in 1897, the Indian Prohibition Act attempted to eliminate its use in ceremonies again. However, in 1966, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) listed that Peyote could be used in ceremonies of the Native American Church. Peyote is highly regulated, nonetheless Native Americans stillShow MoreRelatedInternalized Oppression And Implications Of Client Characteristics877 Words   |  4 Pagesvarious socio-cultural factors that impede First Nations/Native Americans’ usage of mental health programs and services, their particular needs and characteristics will influence the way assessments, goal setting, and interventions will be utilized when working with a First Nations client. For example, Grayshield, et al., (2015), discuss the historical trauma that Native Americans/First Nations populations have experienced here in the United States. This includes prohibiting Native Americans/First NationRead MoreCulturally Appropriate Counseling Practices And Advocacy766 Words   |  4 Pagesunderstands the client’s cultural characteristics, and is always in a continual process of self-reflection of their own socio-cultural beliefs and biases. This paper will discuss how generic counseling through the lens of culture, class and language and the how Native Americans/First Nations differ when using these same markers. This paper will also discuss the implications of Native Americans/First Nations cultural characteristics on counseling methods and advocacy. Cultural Aspects Embedded in GenericRead MoreMahatma Ghandi, An Indian Philosopher1424 Words   |  6 Pagesprovided displays such a stance, in regards to cultural distortion, as a result of globalization. Mahatma Ghandi, an Indian philosopher, states, â€Å"I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any.† Acculturation is looked upon favourably by the speaker; he attempts to communicate how cultural exchange is a wonderful opportunity, where isolationRead MoreReservation Blues By Sherman Alexie1256 Words   |  6 Pagescohesive country. Sherman Alexie’s story Reservation Blues explores the lives of some Native Americans who wrestled with cultural, racial, and religious barriers to embrace the rest of the country. The story reflects the process of racial and cultural integration the country has been going thr ough since its inception, revealing an underlying struggle by the minority groups in the country to become part of the Americans culture that is often dominated by the majority white population. 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There are several cultural factors that influenced both Africa and the Americas such as weaponry, technological advancements, medical and religious. China and India’s values were quite different when it came to cultural beliefs. They would isolate themselves from outside traditions, which made them more resistant toRead MoreCultural Impact Of The Columbian Exchange1153 Words   |  5 PagesThe Columbian Exchange brought direct changed that modified the cultural characteristics of many people. Though religion was a weapon of domination, it was food that created a great cultural impact. This paper will focus on the cultural impact that food had in the world, and how much Native American food contributed to the economy and culture of the entire planet. The Columbian Exchange started after Christopher Columbus’ â€Å"discovery† in 1942 of a New World. This discovery lent to the entire WesternRead MoreNative Americans And Native American Children1068 Words   |  5 Pages‘right away’. How would you feel? Similarly, Native Americans were victimized when Europeans came to the America. But this is one point of view, and there is another perspective to understand here as well. This issues needs to be addressed in a way that puts forth the ideologies of both the Native Americans and the European authorities that took over. Upon the arrival of the Europeans in the US and their attempt to overtake land from the Native Americans, various movements took place. One of themRead MoreDeculturalization Essay1229 Words   |  5 Pagesnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Deculturalization refers to the quot;stripping away of a peoples culture and replacing it with a new culturequot; (Spring 1). Deculturalization is one of the most inhumane acts one can partake in. A persons culture is his/her main defining feature. Culture is the medium through which people communicate their beliefs, values, and morals. Inserting ones own culture in place of someones pre-existing culture is the basis of ethnocentrism. People have repeatedly become victims of deculturalizationRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book A Different Mirror 979 Words   |  4 Pageslike the Native Americans were forced to change their cultural identity in order to fit in. In the book â€Å"A Different Mirror† the Author speaks about the idea of Native Americans cha nging their ways of life in order to fit with the English colonists. Ronald takaki stated â€Å"To become civilized, Jefferson believed, Indians had to give their hunting way of life and transformed themselves into farmers† (Takaki p.g46). It also, mentions how Native Americans were forced to change their cultural behaviors

ITM all case study summary Free Essays

Those purchasing online have their orders delivered to their coal LOCO store so that the LOCO can maintain its role in ensuring social responsibility and not shipping to minors. LOCO contracted with Robot Systems International to maintain a real-time inventory of products that directly interfaces with the company’s warehouse management system. LOCO Senior vice-president Hugh Kelly planned to revamp LOCO. We will write a custom essay sample on ITM all case study summary or any similar topic only for you Order Now Com to better engage and target its customers through social media. Kelly also planned to bring flat screen kiosks designed to better inform customers about their purchases and get instant feedback. Supply Chain Customers see Vintages and LOCO. Mom first hand; they do not see behind the scenes where technology also plays a key role in the new LOCO. Systems such as the warehouse management system allow them to distribute products in less than a full case, know when a bottle in a case been broken, and accurately reflect the inventory levels so that when a customer orders a bottle of wine they can ensure timely delivery. Other systems allow the LOCO to forecast and replenish stock in a timely manner based on over-the-counter sales information that is fed back to head office. LOCO 2. 0 Internally, the company manages its communications with an extensive intranet that reduces the financial and environmental burdens of paper- based memos and forms. The intranet is used to send internal bulletins, memos, and expense reports, or to lessen the burden on employees when distributing LOCO media reports. It is the primary communication vehicle for the company. APS LOCO on the Go is an app that LOCO provides which allows its customers to browse products from their smart phones. Chapter 2 Information Systems Improve Business Processes at Grocery’ Gateway Grocery Gateway is Canada’s leader in the online retailing of home and office deliver groceries. Founded by a group of entrepreneurs with the idea that people had better thing to do in life than grocery shop. In 2004, Grocery Gateway was acquired by Long Brothers Fruit Market Inc, a family owned independent grocery business that has operated physical grocery stores since 1956. Grocery Gateway sells groceries over the internet and deliver them directly to your door. They are open 24 hours, 7 days a week. People who have trouble or cannot have the time to buy groceries such as the elderly find Grocery Gateway to be beneficial. Information Systems Are at the Heart of the Comma/s Business Processes Grocery Gateways has built several key features in its Web site to attract and retain its customers, such as offering an online shopping demo, a getting-started tutorial, and email customer support. Grocery Gateway’s Web sites offers a full suite of electronic commerce functionality that allows consumers to browse or find grocery items, see pictures and descriptions of product items (including their price), and to select items in a shopping basket and check out those items for delivery. Grocery Gateway’s website must be tightly integrated and coordinate for the Web site to function as a cohesive hole. Using Information Systems to Manage Logistics Business Processes Grocery Gateways focuses on the logistics of quick delivery. Therefore the company has turned to the Descartes Systems Group, an on-demand logistics management solutions provider, to optimize Grocery Gateways selection of delivery routes. The technology allows Grocery Gateway to guarantee its customer a specific 90-minute window of delivery of groceries to their doors, a much narrower window than other retail delivery operations. The software that Grocery Gateway uses must take into account unpredictable delays, such s traffic jams and road accidents, as well as last-minute customer requests or cancellations. GAPS enabled mobile phones allow the logistics software to know the exact position and location of Grocery Gateway drivers to make the best decisions on routes for drivers to follow. The Descartes’ software has improve the bottom line. Since deploying the On-demand Fleet Management Solution, Grocery Gateway has improved its on-time delivery performance by 14 percent and is exceeding its yearly stops per paid hour by 12. 4 percent. Routes are continually optimized for maximum efficiency. Access to historical ATA ensures that business processes are optimized and customer service needs are responded to more proactively. Chapter 3 Social Media and Gaston Catcher Where celebrities go, fans follow. David Kara noticed after famous artists began using his blobbing service Tumble. Therefore encouraging celebrities to set up accounts on the site has become â€Å"absolutely part of our road map and our business plan,† Kara says. Like Tumble, social sites are going out of their ay to keep the celebrities happy and coming back. Obama on Namespace, Faceable, and Twitter The Obama administration created profile pages on Namespace, Faceable, and Twitter. Namespace has agreed to build ad-free pages and equipped the profile to get automatic updates from the white House’s official blob. Faceable has worked with the handlers of select celebrity members, including CBS news anchor Katie Court and French President Nicolas Karakas, to get feedback on the new design of the site before it was opened to the public. Twitter co- founder Biz Stone credits high-profile users like actor Gaston Catcher and basketball professional Aquiline O’Neal for bringing attention to the site of 140;character messages but says the company doesn’t reserve any â€Å"special resources† for them. John Legend Taps Tumble In addition to their promotional value, social networking celebrities represent a potential revenue source for these young startups. Tumble recently helped musician John Legend design a professional-looking blob that matches the look of his promotional site, created by Song Music Entertainment. Inning a website to allow its users to build their own social network. Inning charges its users but many of whom are celebrities $2. 99 a month for their social networks, but charges as much as $59. 9 a month to users who prefer to keep their pages clear of ads or who want to collect revenue generated by ads n their pages. Although Innings services is not exclusive to stars, many of the most successful networks on Inning draw on the fame of their operators, including hip-hop artist 50 cent and Q-tip, rock band Good Charlotte, and Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder BC Penn. Many big names in business, including Dell CEO Michael Dell, use the professional networki ng site, Linked more as a business tool than to amass legions of followers. Whatever their reasons for being on the site, Linked uses the fact executives from all 500 biggest companies are among its member to encourage other businesspeople to join the site. Chapter 4 Shell Canada Fuels Productivity with ERP Shell Canada is one of the nation’s largest integrated petroleum companies and is a leading manufacturer, distributor, and marketer of refined petroleum products. The company, headquartered in Calgary, produces natural gas, natural gas liquids and bitumen. Shell Canada is also the country’s largest producer of sulfur. There is a Canada-wide network of about 1 ,800 Shell- branded retail gasoline stations and convenience food stores from coast to coast. Mission Critical ERP To run such a complex and vast business operation successfully, the company lies heavily on a mission-critical ERP system. Using such a system is a necessity to help the company integrate and manage its daily operations – operations that span from wells and mines, to processing plants, to oil trucks and gas pumps. The ERP system has helped the company in reducing and streamlining the highly manual process of third-party contractors submitting repair information and invoices. On average, there are between 2,500 and 4,000 service orders handled by these contractors per month on a nationwide basis. Life at Shell Before ERP Before the ERP system, contractors had to send Shell monthly summarized invoices that listed maintenance calls the contractors made at various Shell gasoline stations. Each one of these invoices took a contractor between eight and 20 hours to prepare. Collectively, the contractors submitted somewhere between 50 and 100 invoices every month to Shell. This involved each invoice being reviewed by the appropriate territory manager and then forwarded to head office for payment processing. This alone consumed another 16-30 hours of labor per month. At the head office, another 200 hours of work was performed by data entry clerks who had to manually enter batch invoice data into the payment system. More hours of labor were required to decipher and correct errors if any mistakes were introduced from all the manual invoice generation and data re-entry involved. Detailed information about the service repairs that contractors did was often not entered into the payment system – it was often weeks or even months old by the time it made it into the payment processing system. As a result, Shell was not collecting sufficient information about what repairs were being done, what had caused the problem, and how it had been resolved. ERP is Solving Issues ERP solved these issues by providing an integrated Web-based service order, invoice, and payment submission system. With this tool third-party contractors can enter service orders directly into Shell’s ERP system via the web. With the ERP system it takes only a few minutes for a contractor to enter details about a service order. Contractors’ monthly, summarized invoices can now be generated automatically and fed directly into the ERP system’s accounts payable application for processing. The ERP system’s benefit is its ease-of-use. Shell offered its personnel both formal and informal ERP training. These proved to be invaluable in teaching end-users the mechanics of the system, gassing awareness of the system benefits, and the efficiencies that the ERP system could offer Shell. This not only helped promote end-user acceptance of the ERP system, but also greatly increased employees’ intentions to use the system in their daily work. With this new system, employees across the company have gained fast and easy access to the tools and information they need to conduct their daily operations. Chapter 5 Supply Chain Management Inc. Helping Canadians Shop Supply Chain Management Supply Chain Management Inc. (SCM Inc. ) operates several large, state-of-the- art distribution centers for Walter Canada. SCM Inc. Is there to support Walter Canada’s operations and commitment to its customers. â€Å"We strive to identify efficiencies that contribute to Walters bottom line, so it can continue to serve millions of Canadians and grow its business. Said Dan Gabbed, president of SCM Inc. SCM Inc. ‘s business is logistics, or in other words get the right products to the right place in the right quantity at the right time to satisfy customer demand. SCM Inc. Was founded in 1 994 by the Tibet Britton Group. SCM and Logistics at SCM Inc. The conveyors and the technology work together with merchandise flow landing, and h ighly trained and engaged employees, to provide a â€Å"gold standard† service level in logistics and supply chain management for their customers. SCM Inc. Arks closely with Walter’s buying and replenishment teams to ensure best-in-class Store in-stock, quality, and supply chain cost levels for general merchandise and groceries, which includes both non- perishable and perishable goods. How It Works How does SCM Inc. Manage the supply chain so that the right product arrives in the right store at the right time for the retail customer to buy? This is accomplished with a combination of technology and processes. Staple Stock Receiving Staple stock items are carried for stores throughout the year. Data on each store?s sales made before 1 8:00 each day are collected and transmitted to Walter’s information processing centre in Bonneville, Arkansas. The information for each of the stores supplied by the Calgary distribution centre is sent back to the distribution centre that same evening. The data is used to generate labels for the product picks the next morning and these labels are then picked and placed on the conveyor and sent to the appropriate shipping lanes. Distribution Assembly Receiving Dock The distribution assembly dock has 43 docks for receiving truck shipments. As the trailers are unloaded, with the aid of the Receiving Dock System (REDS), team members scan the bar codes on the vendor cases and enter the quantity for each item in the system; REDS will then print the required number of labels. The team member labels the freight and places it on the conveyor, which moves the freight to the shipping area after about a 12-minute ride on a conveyor Icepack Modules At each of the seven icepack modules, freight is picked from the slots, labeled, and placed on the conveyor to travel to the shipping lanes. The icepack modules work with all of the full case freight created from the previous night’s production (label) run with freight that has been ordered in full-case quantities. Put to Light Department This department handles freight that is less than full-case quantities and that has pre-determined distribution to the stores. The department has three modules and each module is set up I sections. When the operator scans the label bar code created by the receiving department, which is placed on the outside of the carton, a light flashes, indicating what quantities to â€Å"put† into the container designated for a store. In this department the team member moves the stock to a stationary box. Pick to Light Also handles freight that is less than full-case quantities. This department on the other hand deals with staple stock items already in the building, based on the previous day sales of the stores that are not in full-case quantities. It uses the same technology as the â€Å"Put to Light† department in the order filling process but in this department the store box moves to the stationary vendor freight. Voice Voice is a process created by Walter that enables the distribution of non- conveyable stock. Product is picked directly from the vendor pallet and striation is given through voice commands to the pickers. The system tells each operator where and how many cases to put to each pallet. Each pallet represents a store. Merge Area at the top of the conveyor system where all the cases from all input lines come together. The cartons pass through tow scanners. The first scanner reads the label and sorts the box to either the north or south side of the shipping building depending on its final destination. The second scanner scans the bar code for billing information and then places the freight into the proper window to be diverted into its respective shipping lane. Shipping Lanes Shipping is the largest department in the distribution centre and the final destination in the building for the cartons before they are moved into the trailers for shipping. This department is set up so that each door represents one store in Western Canada. In this area, team members cover multiple lanes, using an overhead lighting system to determine lane priority. Trailer Loading Freight arrives at the shipping lanes from many input lines, in no particular Order. This puts pressure on the team members that are loading the trailers as they build secure loads. Team members must build secure walls of freight n the trailers to ensure safe off-loading and minimal in-transit damage to the stock when it arrives at store level. Loading safe trailers and filling them to capacity is a key initiative for SCM Inc. And Walter alike. The Billing Department Even though the freight has made it to the trailer, the processing is not finished. The Billing department takes over and creates the shipping packets from the paperwork that comes to them from the Data Processing department. Once the shipping packets are created, the Billing department also prepares the bills of lading so that the carriers can deliver the freight. In edition, the Billing department processes claims, credits, additional billing and reprinting of invoices. The Dispatch Department Once the dispatch team receives the shipping packets from the Billing department, they schedule the trailers using the dispatch program. When the trailers are scheduled, the dispatchers forward the information to the carriers to confirm delivery. Dispatch also emails the delivery information to the stores and processes all paperwork prior to each trailer leaving. Drivers pick up paperwork prior to each trailer leaving. Drivers pick up paperwork at the dispatch window prior to hooking up to their trailers. Chapter 6 Harnessing Customer Relationships at Fairmont Hotels Resorts Richards Story Richard was impressed on his stay at Fairmont Vancouver Airport. His credit card was going to expire in less than 30 days so an employee asked Richard to leave his new business card at the desk so that his personal information could be updated in his records after he was checked in. Richard was pleased for receiving this care and attention and he wished other businesses could offer the same level of good service. Guest recognition program Fairmont realizes that information systems are critical to the success of a customer loyalty program like President’s Club or any other customer relationship initiative. Consolidating Guest Information Fairmont built one centralized database that gathered information from all its various property management systems. The result was the ability to have one, centralized, and consistent view of each guest, regardless of which hotel a guest stayed in. The guest database provided a way to know and talk to guests, to service their preferences and interests, regardless of whether they are repeat customers or if they were checking in the hotel for the very first time. Enhancing Guest experiences Supersonic Networks provided 24/7 customer support to its guest using high- speed internet services at various Fairmont hotel and resort locations worldwide. Use of Information systems to improve guest relations and customer experience is its consideration of self-service check-in kiosks. Chapter 7 The Case for Business Intelligence at Nettling Companies such as Amazon, Nettling, Best Buy, and RIB financial use databases or data warehouses to collect your search data, purchase data, or track your activities, and then by using data mining tools and business intelligence they turn this data into information that can potentially boost heir bottom lines. Reed Hastings and a $40 Late Fee Reed hasting co-founder and CEO of Nettling was hit with a $40 fee for Apollo 13 at Blockbuster Video which got him thinking about the video rental business model. Why did video stores not work like health clubs where you could use the service as much or a little as you wanted for a flat monthly fee? So armed with IIS$750 million from the sale of a former venture, Hastings co- founded Nettling in 1997. The science and the Art of Nineties The box office success of a movie is only a proxy for awareness of a movie’s existence; it does not necessarily translate into demand for the movie in the mental market, and box office success or failure does not mean success or failure of the movie in the rental market. Due to these two facts, distribution managers use their experience to formulate a hypothesis of a movie’s possible success in the rental market. They then follow this up with the science of analytics to help them make the final decision as to what movies to distribute. The Analytics Cinematic does the following: It defines clusters of movies, connects customer movie rankings to the clusters, and then uses this connection to recommend movies to a particular customer. In addition, Cinematic also insiders Nineteen’s inventory condition in its recommendations. Nettling will often recommend movies that fit the customers profile but that are not in high demand in order to take advantage of â€Å"the long tail. † What does this mean? Business intelligence is important to Nettling as it is a part of it secret of success. By collecting customer data in their database and then analyzing the data, Entail is able to have its Web site adapt to the personal tastes of each of its over 25 million customers in North America, and will do so even more with its plans to expand into Latin American markets in 2012. Chapter 8 Leveraging Knowledge at Bell Canada Bell Canada Canada’s largest telephone and telecommunications company is constantly threatened by new competitors and innovative technologies. To stay ahead of the pack, Bell recognizes the importance of providing its employees with easy access to the most current information. Bell built the Market Knowledge Centre (MOCK) portal. The MOCK portal provides employees with easy access to high quality, relevant information in a forum where this information Can be personalized, pushed, pulled, shared, discussed, summarized and integrated with other pieces of information. Bell believes hat such a tool increases the chance of employees making new discoveries, learning new insights, and strengthening their know-how. Objectives of the MOCK portal are: Enable Bell to meet competitive challenges in the marketplace Enrich the company’s hiring and training employees Increase technological literacy among employees Provide resources to employees that can help them develop their knowledge and competencies. The MOCK provides information access from each employee’s desktop. Employees are not constrained by physical geography, unavailable copies, or hours of operation. The portal facilitates both search and browse functions. Employees can locate documents of interest through a keyword search. The MOCK portal helps employees do their jobs better. The portal provides key strategic and tactical information needed by employee to support their projects. There are also savings for the company in delivering the MOCK portal. The portal eliminates duplicate spending on consultant reports, trade magazines, and industry documents across the enterprise by centralizing subscriptions to online databases and electronic journals and negotiating corporate-wide distribution licenses with suppliers. Features have been added to the portal in recent years include: 1 . Incorporating Google’s Mini Search Appliance 2. Integrating news feeds 3. Creating subject pages MOCK staff also provides end-user customer support to employees. This involves fielding more demanding in-depth research questions from employees, rather than answering quick reference questions that employees can easily address themselves. TO ensure the MOCK portal is responsive to company needs, performance measures of client satisfaction are conducted regularly. Moreover, MOCK portal tool helps turn information into knowledge by giving workers easy access to high quality and relevant information, and he ability to work with, share, and discuss this information with others, leading to gains in understanding and the ability to put this understanding into action. Chapter 9 Embracing Privacy at the City of Hamilton Privacy Concerns Recognizing the real concerns of Canadians over how well governments handle and protect the personal information they collect, the City of Hamilton has taken the lead in ensuring that any risks to the inadvertent release and misuse of personal information are minimized. Protecting Citizens A citizen, attempting to renew a dog license using the new online service, exposed a serious unknown technology vulnerability in the application. By entering an incorrect file number, the user was able to return personal information (name and address) for a different dog owner in the community. Municipal staff reacted swiftly in removing the problem functionality. In the following months, staff from both the municipal Freedom of Information (OFF) Office and the City’s information Technology Services (ITS) division worked with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPAC) to make the breach public and to redesign and ultimately reinstate, new functionality with upgrades to prevent unauthorized access of personal information. Learning from Lessons Technology is just a tool. If is human behavior (Hacking, purposeful misuse, an inability to take proper measures, or mistakes in design and implementation) that ultimately results in privacy breaches. Privacy Impact Assessment The City of Hamilton commissioned its first ever Privacy Impact Assessment (PIP) to identify any potential privacy risks, before proceeding with a User Adoption and Uptake research project conducted by Master University researchers. The project investigated end-user adoption of the millionth. A portal, collecting data from Web tracking information and personal demographic information from Hamiltonians who agreed to participate in the study. Chapter 10 Project Management and E-Learning The Project Marie Wesley was sitting at her office one day and thought to herself â€Å"l wish more Of our stakeholders understood what went into creating these documents and how time-consuming it is for the company to ensure the accuracy and readability of the information. She put together a proposal and sent it to university Learning Publishers and received $25,000 to develop her e-learning concept. Putting the Parts Together While Marie was at the fitness centre she thought of the concept of a stationary bike, the bike could not function without the other parts. This was similar to her project where she then jotted down capabilities that she needed to complete her project; management information systems expertise; securities co mmission experts; knowledge about writing for the internet; instructional designers; and educational experts. Putting Advisors in Place Marie had much work to do. She needed to form her advisory Committee, determine her target audience, get quotes for various phases of development f the e-learning tool (and identify those phases), hire someone who manage the project while she wrote the content, determine the timeline for software development and implementation, and the how to assess the quality of the software throughout the development and implementation phases. Marie searched for companies that were interested in completing the part of the project that she wanted to outsource. She then found one, Star Communications. However it was difficult to judge the quality Of Star’s work and the capabilities of the designers, as Star provided no work samples to help determine what the possibilities were for the final product. Adding Project Management After much consideration of the risks associated with partial outsourcing versus full service, Marie decided to let Star create the first module. How to cite ITM all case study summary, Free Case study samples

Effects of Using Computers free essay sample

Effects of Computer Use on High School Students’ Sense of Community MERVYN J. WIGHTING Regent University, Virginia ABSTRACT The author used a mixed-method design to determine whether and how use of computers in the classroom affects sense of learning in a community among high school students (N = 181). The results indicate that using computers in the classroom positively affects students’ sense of learning in a community. Analyses revealed that students believed that connectedness with their peers is the most important variable in developing a sense of community. Results suggest the following policy implications for urban education: (a) use of computers in teaching may add to the sense of classroom community and (b) sense of community is important and may be linked to academic success. Key words: computers, sense of community, high school education T echnological innovation has become a commonplace phenomenon and is frequently taken for granted by contemporary society. In everyday life, technology plays an ever-increasing role; innovations, such as cellular telephones, hand-held computers, automatic teller machines, and digital videodisks, quickly become incorporated into daily use and are added to society’s vocabulary. Information is available in far greater quantities than ever before, and the means to access and share it with others is unprecedented. Because the pace of sophisticated technological change is so rapid, however, little is known about its effect on the society that it pervades. The classroom is a microcosm of society, and technology is having an increasing impact in schools throughout the country. In the same way that little is known about how technology affects communities in general, little is yet known about the effects that increased use of technology is having on school communities, in particular, on the sense of community of classroom learners. Sense of Community The concept of community has received considerable interest in recent years in the United Sates, and related research has increased. Despite concerns of some community psychologists over the erosion of the sense of community, and 371 its description by Sarason (as cited in Lounsbury DeNeui, 1996) as the â€Å"overarching value† of community psychology, it was not until the mid-1980s that McMillan and Chavis (1986) proposed an operational definition of community. Their definition describes community as (a) a feeling that members have of belonging, (b) a feeling that members matter to one another and to the group, and (c) a shared faith that members’ needs will be met through their commitment to be together. Hill (1996) concluded that psychological sense of community refers to variables beyond individual relationships, that it appears to be setting specific, and that aspects of the concept differ from setting to setting. One such setting is the classroom. The sense of community among the students within a classroom is important. The construct is related closely to research by Glynn (1981) and Royal and Rossi (1997), who argued that common goals and values are essential elements of community, and by Strike (2004), who theorized that normation (i. e. the willingness of students to internalize group-shared expectations), is an important aspect of a learning community. Learning is assisted if students believe that they belong to the community or group that makes up a class and if they contribute to, and benefit from, that classroom community. Interpersonal relationships also are enormously important in a community of learners. The less a person understands the feelings and behaviors of othe rs, the more likely he or she will act inappropriately or insecurely and fail to gain acceptance within the community (Gardner, 1983). Cooperative learning is an important component of the sense of classroom community. Johnson and Johnson (1992), Kagan (1994), and Slavin (1991, 1995) contributed to a considerable body of research that supports the benefits of cooperative learning. In addition, Sharan and Sharan (1992) reported that cooperative learning is an important aspect of the constructivist psychology of how students acquire Address correspondence to Mervyn J. Wighting, Regent University, 1000 Regent University Drive, Virginia Beach, VA 23464-9800. (Email: [emailprotected] edu) Copyright  © 2006 Heldref Publications 372 The Journal of Educational Research knowledge. Constructivist cognitive psychology maintains that children actively construct their own notions of reality from their experiences. Wilson and Lowry (2000) maintained that learners need to develop individual competence, but in a context of effective participation within groups and learning communities. Computer Use in Secondary Education The literature is not definitive concerning the effects of computer technology on student achievement, but there are indications that using technology may have a positive effect. In a meta-analysis, Waxman, Lin, and Michko (2003) studied the effects of teaching and learning with technology on student outcomes with statistical data from 42 research studies. The results suggest that technology has a small, positive significant effect on student outcomes when compared with traditional instruction. Findings gathered from 26 studies on the implementation of K–12 classroom networks with handheld devices connected to the teacher’s laptop computer and integrated with a shared screen (Roschelle, Penuel, Abrahamson, 2004) showed (a) greater student engagement, (b) increased student understanding of complex subject matter, and (c) increased student interest and enjoyment. Much of the literature, however, documents specific aspects or types of technology; the research base has not provided an assessment of how to integrate and use technology in schools and classrooms. The tremendous pace of change in computer technology hinders such assessment as software and hardware developments are introduced in rapid succession before their effectiveness has been evaluated (Allen, 2001). Effects of Technology on Classroom Community Relatively few researchers report on the effects of technology on classroom community. Maddux, Johnson, and Willis (1997) argued strongly for the introduction of constructivist learning theories into classrooms through the use of technology but were unable to cite empirical findings from research to support their case. In a meta-analysis across 23 studies, Susman (1998), who reported on cooperative learning by students working together, found a significant difference favoring cooperative learning with technology. Although some empirical research supports the use of technology, an opposing school of thought contends that using technology in the classroom may have a negative effect on the sense of classroom community. Healy (1998) cautioned that children’s spending too much time in front of a computer could lead to long-term psychological or physical problems. Hiltz (1998) added that one of the potential negative effects of using technology in the classroom is a loss of social relationships and a loss of the sense of community. She also argued that collaborative-learning strategies are as important for computer-based teaching as they are for traditional classroom courses. Roblyer and Edwards (2000) noted that research results to date have not made a strong case for the impact of technology on the sense of community in the classroom. The researchers offered a wealth of ideas and suggestions for ways in which they believed that technology can benefit teaching and recommended that more research is needed in newer technology uses, particularly those linked to constructivist theory or reflected in instructional practice. Purpose Researchers have examined the sense of classroom community among undergraduate student populations (Rovai Lucking, 2000). The authors provided evidence that supports the theoretical basis of classroom community and found that it could be reliably measured. In subsequent studies (e. g. , Rovai Grooms, 2004; Rovai Lucking, 2003), researchers have explored the sense of classroom community among members of graduate-level distance learning and face-to-face courses. The literature does not address sense of classroom community among K–12 students or whether their sense of learning in a classroom community is affected by the use of technology in instruction. I attempted to add to that body of knowledge by addressing the following research questions: 1. How do high school students describe classroom community and its importance for their learning, and what factors do students perceive to be important for developing a sense of classroom community? 2. How does the use of technology in their classrooms affect students’ sense of learning in a classroom community? Method Participants A nonrandom sample of 181 students from intact classes volunteered to participate in the present study. Ninety-one students were in Grade 9, and 90 students were in Grade 11; 89 students were boys, and 92 students were girls. Ninety-nine percent of the participants were volunteers. The participants were enrolled in a variety of subject classes within the school curriculum; average class size was 16 students. The principal selected 12 teachers to participate, some of whom used computers frequently in their teaching, and others who did not. The principal determined teachers’ high- or low-technology use by means of information compiled from professional evaluations, discussions with department chairs, and personal classroom observations. I determined equivalency of the groups regarding students’ achievement prior to the study, and I considered equivalency in terms of student ethnicity. Setting The participants comprised students from an urban independent high school in Virginia. Students who attended July/August 2006 [Vol. 99(No. 6)] 373 the school were assessed on entry as being of average or above-average ability; part of the school’s mission was to prepare them for admission to college. Students were drawn from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds. Some students came from wealthy families; other students attended the school through a scholarship program. The majority of the students lived in urban neighborhoods; approximately 70% of them lived in the same urban area as the school. The student population was diverse and included international students, as well as representatives from various American cultures and backgrounds. Instrument The participants responded to a prestudy measurement of their attitude toward computers. The Computer Attitude Questionnaire developed by Todman and File (1990) was the standardized instrument used for high school students. The scale shows an acceptable level of reliability. The authors reported that the internal consistency index (coefficient alpha) for the 20-item scale was . 82, according to the responses from 364 participants. Todman and File reported that the instrument’s concurrent validity was considered in a small-scale study in which it was administered to a group of 33 undergraduates immediately following completion of a questionnaire designed specifically for college students. The correlation between scores on the two scales was . 85. I used the Sense of Classroom Community Index (SCCI) developed by Rovai, Lucking, and Cristol (2001) to evaluate the sense of classroom community and its component dimensions of spirit, trust, interaction and learning. The questionnaire contains 40 items, with 10 questions for each of the four subscales. Participants are asked to rate the extent to which they agree with each item on a 5-point, Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). Rovai and colleagues designed the instrument for use by a wide population, ranging from middle school students to college undergraduates. In describing the SCCI’s reliability, Rovai and colleagues (2001) reported Cronbach’s coefficient alpha as . 96 for the overall SCCI score, . 90 for the spirit subscore, . 84 for the trust subscore, . 84 for the interaction subscore, and . 88 for the learning subscore. In the present study (N = 181), coefficients of internal consistency were . 95 for the overall SCCI score, . 86 for the spirit subscore, . 80 for the trust subscore, . 82 for the interaction subscore, and . 87 for the learning subscore. Those findings provide evidence that classroom community and each of its dimensions have high internal consistencies and can be reliably measured with the SCCI. Rovai and colleagues also reported that the instrument possesses high face validity. The survey items are worded suitably for use with the target population, having a Flesch (1994) Reading Ease score of 81. on a 100-point scale (the higher the score, the easier to understand). To collect qualitative data, I used semistructured interviews with follow-up questions to probe for additional information. I assessed the reliability of each interview question initially by conducting a pilot study in advance of the actual interviews with a sample of students from Grade 8 (n = 20) and Grade 10 (n = 21) . I conducted the pilot study to determine whether the questions were explicit and to show whether the questions were easily and fully understood by a sample of students who were similar to the participants. I determined content validity by ensuring that the interview questions were constructed around the content domain of the SCCI and the use of technology in the classroom. Procedures I selected the intact classes of participants with criteria that related to their use of technology. I measured equivalency among the classes with school achievement records. I also determined the equivalency of the participants in terms of age and ethnicity. I distributed the Computer Attitude Questionnaire (Todman File, 1990) as a further determinant of equivalency and supervised the SCCI o measure the sense of classroom community. Following the quantitative data analysis, I selected participants for the qualitative phase of the study. I made the selection equitably from within Grades 9 and 11 by purposeful sampling, and specifically, by maximum variation sampling. I chose that particular sampling technique because any common patterns that emerged from a large variation would be of particular interest a nd value for one to capture the core experiences and central shared aspects. Design and Data Analysis I used a mixed-method design in this study. I analyzed the data that had been collected to determine equivalency among classes with analyses of variance (ANOVAs). I conducted discriminant analyses on the data by using the SCCI to investigate the relationship of the instrument’s subscales with the criterion variable of high- or low-computer use in teaching. I performed a content analysis on the qualitative data by examining topics, categories of topics, and patterns across questions. The analysis was iterative to ensure that possible differences in the interpretation of responses were explored. I provided samples of the analyzed responses to an independent third party to assess them for reliability of scoring. In addition, a peer review provided an external check of the research process. Finally, participants received the data, analyses, interpretations, and conclusions so that they could comment on the accuracy and credibility of the account. Further details on quantitative and qualitative analysis procedures are reported in the Results section. 374 The Journal of Educational Research Results Quantitative Analysis In Tables 1–3, the class designation indicates grade level (i. e. 9 or 11), followed by an identification letter relating to computer use in teaching. In both grade levels, classes with suffixes A–C are those with high levels of computer use in their instruction; suffixes X–Z denote those classes experiencing little or no technology in their teaching. I used an alpha level of . 05 for all statistical tests. I used standardized test scores to determine whether academic achievement equivalency existed among the groups of students. I used the Selection Index scores of the Preliminary Scholastic Achievement Test (PSAT), a national standardized test administered annually in the majority of high schools. The Selection Index is the composite score of the two principal sections of the PSAT, mathematics and English, and has a maximum value of 240. Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics relating to level of achievement for all participating classes. I used inferential statistics to determine whether any significant differences existed among the achievement scores of classes in Grade 9. Levene’s test showed that the assumption of homogeneity of variance was tenable, and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test showed that normality was tenable. ANOVA showed no significant differences among the TABLE 1. Mean Standardized Achievement Test Scores Grade 9(A) 9(B) 9(C) Total 9(X) 9(Y) 9(Z) Total 11(A) 11(B) 11(C) Total 11(X) 11(Y) 11(Z) Total M 145. 72 156. 51 146. 47 148. 84 141. 53 133. 41 145. 51 140. 26 145. 53 156. 06 161. 85 155. 24 163. 69 150. 46 162. 81 158. 54 SD 15. 71 23. 33 17. 64 18. 77 21. 77 15. 87 18. 58 19. 16 19. 73 21. 57 22. 61 21. 67 13. 64 23. 26 24. 36 20. 48 Minimum 119 110 119 110 113 110 114 110 115 115 115 115 137 110 128 110 Maximum 181 190 180 190 193 170 190 193 193 190 211 211 187 189 203 203 n TABLE 2. Mean Standardized Computer Attitude Scores Grade 9(A) 9(B) 9(C) Total 9(X) 9(Y) 9(Z) Total 11(A) 11(B) 11(C) Total 11(X) 11(Y) 11(Z) Total M 56. 44 56. 25 53. 81 55. 51 57. 13 57. 93 56. 73 57. 17 50. 73 56. 88 52. 11 53. 19 50. 94 58. 15 53. 31 53. 95 SD 11. 56 6. 97 16. 52 12. 33 11. 98 8. 88 8. 33 9. 62 9. 58 7. 74 8. 69 8. 89 8. 53 6. 47 9. 23 8. 49 Minimum 23 43 13 13 40 46 44 40 28 43 36 28 36 49 37 36 Maximum 72 69 74 74 76 78 71 78 62 68 64 68 69 70 63 70 n 18 12 15 45 15 15 16 46 15 16 20 51 16 13 10 39 Note. A, B, and C indicate high levels of computer use; X, Y, and Z indicate little or no computer use. Maximum possible score on the instrument is 80. TABLE 3. Mean Classroom Community Index (SCCI) Scores Grade 18 12 15 45 15 15 16 46 15 16 20 51 16 13 10 39 9(A) 9(B) 9(C) Total 9(X) 9(Y) 9(Z) Total 11(A) 11(B) 11(C) Total 11(X) 11(Y) 11(Z) Total M 110. 28 98. 67 101. 81 104. 36 106. 93 95. 01 75. 88 92. 24 112. 07 83. 75 114. 55 104. 16 99. 75 96. 54 121. 71 104. 31 SD 19. 75 17. 15 18. 51 18. 93 20. 55 19. 59 23. 82 24. 69 16. 96 22. 25 19. 06 23. 71 20. 95 20. 5 20. 27 21. 81 Minimum 77 78 73 73 55 63 34 34 92 36 73 36 57 57 85 57 Maximum 148 137 143 148 142 129 118 142 151 128 154 154 135 135 147 147 n 18 12 15 45 15 15 16 46 15 16 20 51 16 13 10 39 Note. A, B, and C indicate high levels of computer use; X, Y, and Z indicate little or no computer use. Maximum possible score for the Selection Index of the Preliminary Scholastic Achievement Test is 240. Note. A, B, and C indicate high l evels of computer use; X, Y, and Z indicate little or no computer use. Maximum possible score obtainable on the SCCI is 160. July/August 2006 [Vol. 99(No. 6)] 375 classes in terms of their achievement scores, F(5, 85) = 2. 18, p = . 06. I applied the same statistical process to the achievement scores of classes in Grade 11 and found no significant difference among the classes, F(5, 84) = 2. 04, p = . 19. The results indicate that the students in the various classes did not differ significantly in terms of their academic achievement level. I also analyzed the data to determine whether any significant differences existed among the ages of students in either grade. ANOVA showed no significant differences among the classes from Grade 9, F(5, 85) = 1. 40, p = . 23, nor among participants in Grade 11, F(5, 84) = . 87, p = . 53. Participants also were similar with respect to diversity. I selected all the intact classes from within Grades 9 and 11, and no class differed significantly from another in terms of diversity among its students. I used standardized survey scores to determine equivalency among the groups of participants in terms of their attitude toward the use of computers. I obtained the scores from the Computer Attitude Questionnaire (Todman File, 1990). Cronbach’s alpha applied to the attitude scores provided a coefficient of internal consistency of . 86 for the overall score, indicating a satisfactory level of reliability. Table 2 shows the descriptive statistics relating to participants’ attitudes toward computers and the data obtained from all students. I analyzed the attitude scores to determine whether there were any significant differences among the classes in both grades. One-way ANOVAs showed that no significant differences existed among the classes in Grade 9, F(5, 85) = . 29, p = . 5, nor in Grade 11, F(5, 84) = 2. 19, p = . 06. I conducted descriptive analyses on the scores obtained on the SCCI and presented them in Table 3. The table shows that classes designated 9X–Z (low technology) had the lowest mean total score on the SCCI and that the mean totals for the other classes were similar to one another. The standard deviations show that the classes had similar levels of variability. Box plots revealed that the distributions were approximately normal. I conducted discriminant analyses on the data by using the stepwise procedure. The first two-group discriminant analysis considered the predictor variables of the subscales of the SCCI and their relationship with the criterion variable of computer use in teaching (high or low). The stepwise analysis terminated at Step 1 and yielded an index of discrimination (R = . 18), Wilks’s lambda (1, 1,179) = . 97, F(1, 179) = 5. 99, p = . 015. I removed the subscales spirit, trust, and interaction from the analysis; the learning subscale remained. The analysis showed that 56. 4% of original grouped cases were classified correctly. An independent samples t test examined the independent variable of high- and low-technology use in teaching and its effect on the learning subscale of the SCCI. Levene’s test for equality of variances revealed that the variances were significantly different. Students who used computers often in their classes scored higher on the learning subscale (M = 28. 30, SD = 5. 84) than did students who used computers less often in their classes (M = 25. 93, SD = 7. 18; effect size: d = . 36). The independent samples t test result was t(162) = 2. 42, p = . 02. Analysis of the individual subscales of the SCCI, therefore, revealed that a significant difference existed between highand low-computer use in teaching, as measured by the learning subscale. To investigate student reactions to the subscale showing significant differences identified by inferential statistics, I examined responses to individual items within the learning domain of the SCCI. I conducted a descriptive analysis of the mean scores of the subscale and identified items that revealed a mean difference of 0. 3. I also identified four items with mean differences of 0. 3 from within the learning subscale and ategorized them according to technology level: 24. I feel that this course provides valuable skills. 28. I feel that there is no need to think critically in this course. 32. I feel that this course does not meet my educational needs. 36. I feel that I learn a lot in this course. The responses to questions from the learning domain suggest that students from the high-technol ogy classes recognized that they were learning valuable new skills and that they were being encouraged to think critically. Those students also responded positively to the item asking whether their educational needs were being met. Examination of the differences in means also indicated that a greater number of students from the high-technology classes, rather than those from low-technology classes, considered that they were acquiring much knowledge from their particular class. Qualitative Analysis Table 4 shows the format of the semistructured interviews. Table 5 shows responses to questions based principally on use of technology in teaching, with responses by classes X–Z (low technology) in parentheses. Students (37%) responded that computers helped them with project work. One student commented that They are very helpful. I’ve used a computer for every single project I’ve done in this class. Doing a package of work for one topic was so easy when I used the computer. All the information was right there, and it was very easy to understand. Other responses indicated that students (31%) enjoyed using technology in their work at school. A ninth-grade student observed that technology was helpful and fun, relating that We did a research project on exotic pets like monkeys and tigers, and had to find out what their needs were if they were kept as a pet. I found a great web site and got lots of stuff from it. I enjoyed doing it that way. 76 The Journal of Educational Research TABLE 4. Student Interview Questions Item no. Question computers is cool because it allows the student to find out things the teacher didn’t know. The technology allows me to share new ideas with the teacher, so it’s good for both of us. † Commenting on the use of technology in a social studies class, a s tudent in a Grade 11 class revealed that It’s pretty neat. We did the Spanish-American war just from computers—nothing came from a book. I went to a lot of Internet sites, and it stuck with me much better than if I had learned from a textbook. It’s easier really than having to go through the books to find out information. It’s a different way of learning. Our teacher gave us some good information off the web too that she had found and wanted to share with us. 1. Please describe your classroom interactions with other students in your ___ class. 2. Please explain how groups work together in this class. 3. Describe your sense of belonging to this class. 4. In what ways do you think you help other students learn in this class? 5. In what ways do you think other students help you to learn in this class? 6. How does trust play a role in the learning that takes place in this class? . Describe what it is like using computers to learn in this subject. 8. How does using computers in this class affect the way you work with other students? 9. How does using computers in this class affect the way you work with the teacher? 10. How much do you think you learn in this class compared with other classes? 11. How does the use of computers affect your sense of belonging? 12. How does using computers affect your sense of trust in this class? Table 6 shows responses to the questions related to the learning subscale of the SCCI, with classes X–Z shown in parentheses. Students (35%) believed that there was a balance between the amount of help that they gave to their peers and that they received from others. I recorded the importance of questions raised by other students (34%) in class on several occasions. One example was We all sort of feed off one another. There are lots of questions asked. It’s a very open class. I think the questions that I ask sometimes help other students to learn more vocabulary and to understand more of what we are learning. Another reply described a class where the sense of belonging to a community of learners was not present: I don’t think other students help me much. Questions are rare; there just isn’t any opportunity. The slides just go up on the overhead and we have to take it all down. We don’t learn too much. I don’t think I have learned anything much in the last month. TABLE 5. Students’ Most Frequent Responses to Interview Questions (Technology) Item/category 1. Describe using computers to learn. They help me do project work. I enjoy using them. We only use them as word processors. 2. How do computers affect the way you work with other students? Makes little difference. We share information and web sites. 3. How do computers affect the way you work with the teacher? Makes little difference. They help me work with the teacher. We share information and web sites. 3. How do computers affect the way you work with the teacher? Makes little difference. They help me work with the teacher. n % 8 (2) 6 (2) 3(2) 37 31 14 9 (6) 3 (1) 51 24 8 (5) 4 (1) 3 (1) 54 33 24 8 (5) 4 (1) 54 33 Note. n in parentheses denotes the number of students from lowtechnology classes. Some students (54%) believed that computers did not affect the way that they worked with their teacher; others (33%) indicated that they felt computers helped them work with a teacher. One student commented that â€Å"Using Other responses (24%) pertained to the value of class discussions. A student answered: â€Å"We have a lot of class discussions—they help a lot. We are encouraged to argue and to say different points of view. † Responses varied regarding the amount that students believed they were learning in any particular class. Some students (42%) believed that they learned the most from a particular class. One student commented that â€Å"I learn a lot more in this class. I feel we are constantly learning a lot of new things. It’s a good learning environment. † Another student responded, â€Å"This is one I really learn a lot in. You just sort of retain the knowledge. † Other students (38%) indicated a particular class in which they learned the least. One student replied, â€Å"I learn more in most other classes. I find this more difficult, and most of the time I just don’t get it. It seems to go right over my head, and my teacher doesn’t seem to know that. † The responses show that a principal factor identified by students concerning classroom community and its importance for learning was use of computers. In addition to reporting that computers were important to their learning, students indicated that they enjoyed using them. Another major factor for students was the sense of belonging to a class and experiencing a spirit of connectedness with their peers. Also important was students’ trust among their peers and trust toward and from their teachers. July/August 2006 [Vol. 99(No. 6)] 377 TABLE 6. Students’ Most Frequent Responses to Interview Questions (Learning Subscale) Item/category 1. How do you help other students learn? The questions I ask help others. I help others from home by phone or e-mail. The teacher asks me to explain. I do not help others much. 2. How do other students help you learn? The questions they ask help me. Discussions generate different ideas. They help me from their home by phone or e-mail. They do not help me much. 3. How much do you learn compared with other classes? This is the one I learn most in. Far less. A lot more. n % 5 (3) 5 (2) 2 (1) 2 (2) 8 (3) 6 (2) 3 (2) 2 (1) 35 35 12 12 34 24 18 12 5 (4) 4 (2) 3 (1) 42 38 14 Note. n in parentheses denotes the number of students from lowtechnology classes. Discussion The results indicate that a sense of classroom community was present among the participants and suggest that some students were aware of a feeling of community and may have benefited from it. The data contained in this study build on previous research (e. g. , Rovai Grooms, 2004; Rovai Lucking, 2003) on the sense of community using the SCCI to measure students’ beliefs. Many of the participants indicated that community was important to them and helped them in the learning process. That finding upholds the theory that social support and a sense of belonging are distinct aspects of the concept of community held by adolescents (Pretty, Conroy, Dugay, Fowler, Williams, 1996). The positive response to the concept of community identified among the adolescents in this study is not in accord with those who have expressed the opinion that a sense of community may be declining in this country (Newborough Chavis, 1986; Schuler, 1996). The first research question asked how students describe classroom community, and its importance for their learning. My analyses revealed that students identified three main factors that were important to them concerning sense of community and its importance for their learning. The first factor was technology and the use of computers. Students who were interviewed revealed that not only did they find computers helpful for assignments such as research projects but also they enjoyed using them for that purpose. The evidence, derived from qualitative analysis, supports the quantitative data suggesting that students experiencing high computer use in class responded more favorably than did students with low computer use to questions contained in the spirit and learning domains of the SCCI. That finding adds support to previous studies that have reported students’ favorable reactions to using technology in the classroom (e. g. Siegle Foster, 2000; Combs, 2000; Waxman, Lin, Michko, 2003), and has clear practical implications for classroom practices. If students enjoy using computers in their lessons, as well as recognize their value, motivation for learning may increase. Technology should not be viewed as an end in itself but as a tool to augment the sense of classroom community. Teachers should be encouraged t o use computers to simplify, facilitate, and enhance individualized and social-learning processes. The second factor that was important to students was a sense of belonging to the class, a feeling of being wanted and liked by their peers. The evidence adds to earlier work on the importance of classroom cohesiveness to students (Chin, Salisbury, Gopal, 1996). Students indicated that they valued an atmosphere of teamwork in the classroom and could appreciate the concept of sharing elements of a task to complete a project collaboratively. Those responses indicate that the students experienced and commented on the value of collaborative learning in the context of describing the importance of classroom community. The third factor that was important to students’ sense of community and to their learning was the amount of trust that they experienced in the classroom. The qualitative findings are supported by descriptive quantitative results, as shown in the mean subscale scores for interaction and trust for students in Grades 9 and 11. Students viewed equally the level of trust among their peers and between themselves and their teacher. That finding provides evidence supporting McMillan’s (1996) decision to include the dimension of trust in place of influence in studies of community. My finding also supports Goleman’s (1995) research, which stated that trust is necessary for true acceptance and complete membership of a community. In addition, my finding adds to those of Rovai and Lucking (2003), who studied sense of community in a higher education, television-based distance education program, and found that distance students (a) felt less trust in their community of learners, (b) scored lower on the SCCI, and (c) expressed less certainty about the value of the course than did students in a conventional face-to-face class. Results of the present study suggest that students recognize the value of a sense of community and its inherent spirit of cooperation within a classroom. The second research question asked how the use of technology in the classroom affects students’ sense of learning in a classroom community. The learning subscale of the SCCI showed a significant increase among students who were being taught with a high amount of technology. Students from high-technology classes answered every item within the learning subscale of the instrument more positively than did students who experienced little or no computer use in their classes. That supporting evidence could 378 The Journal of Educational Research have important ramifications. Use of technology in schools is continuing to increase, yet, little is known about its effect on students’ sense of classroom community. Maddux and colleagues (1997) and Yaverbaum and Ocker (1998) argued for the introduction of constructivist approaches to learning through the use of computers by noting the paucity of research in this area. My findings suggest that the learning subscale of the sense of classroom community may be influenced favorably if teachers use computers more frequently, thereby adding to the body of knowledge concerning the effects of technology on children’s knowledge acquisition. The findings support the views of Morrison, Lowther, and DeMeulle (1999) that technology use in the classroom and a constructivist approach to education are very compatible. The results also support the theory that students favor an element of learner control (Relan, 1992), which they can achieve through the use of technology. The responses by some students to interview questions indicate that they favored being allowed to explore the Internet to research a project. Students explained that they believed that they had more control over their learning with a computer than they did through the use of books. The results suggest that students considered that they were learning together in a community and building on information that they acquired either individually or as a class. Limitations I had no control over teacher selection or amount or type of computer use in the intact classes during the study. Consequently, it was difficult to define accurately the independent variable of high- or low-computer use. Also, individual teaching style, as well as the personality of each teacher, might have had an effect on the sense of students’ classroom community. Teacher effect could have influenced any or all of the subscales of the SCCI, and this might be considered a confounding variable. The self-report nature of the questionnaires and interviews that I used in this study add another possible limitation. Participants in research studies involving self-report instruments are often reluctant to report negative experiences. The results of this research can be generalized only to a similar population of students. The participants attended an urban independent school, and the results may not apply fully to students from other high schools or in schools located in different environments. Conclusions Researchers can build on the present study by monitoring more closely the amount of, and type of, computer use. Further study into the effects of technology on students’ sense of classroom community should use intact groups in a mixed design but employ ethnographic techniques to supplement the data collection methods used in this study. Researchers could investigate whether a high sense of classroom community is related to academic achievement and whether an interaction occurs with the use of technology. I showed that the learning subscale of classroom community can be affected by the amount of technology that teachers use for classroom instruction. I also provided evidence that students enjoy using computers in a learning situation. The implications of this study for administrators and teachers are twofold. First, the use of computers may add to students’ motivation and enjoyment of working within a community of learners. High school administrators should encourage all teachers to use computers as an integral part of their instruction. Second, classroom community is important and could be linked to academic success. High school teachers may determine that sense of community data add to their knowledge of individual students and to the manner in which these students work collaboratively. REFERENCES Allen, R. (2001). Technology and learning: How schools map routes to technology’s promised land. ASCD Curriculum Update, 1–3, 6–8. Chin, W. W. , Salisbury, W. D. , Gopal, A. (1996). Perceived cohesion in groups: A confirmatory factor analysis of the dimensions of belonging and morale. Retrieved August 9, 2005, from http://faculty. ob. ohiou. edu/ salisbury/research/cohesion. html Combs, K. A. (2000). Factors influencing the implementation of technology in a magnet high school. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Baylor University. Flesch, R. (1949). The art of readable writing. New York: Harper. Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: BasicBooks. Glynn, T. ( 1981). Psychological sense of community: Measurement and application. Human Relations, 34, 789–791. Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. New York: Bantam Books. Healy, J. M. (1998). Failure to connect: How computers affect our children’s minds—for better and worse (pp. 17–35). New York: Simon Schuster. Hill, J. L. (1996). Psychological sense of community: Suggestions for future research. Journal of Community Psychology, 24, 431–438. Hiltz, S. R. (1998, November). Collaborative learning in asynchronous learning networks: Building learning communities. Paper presented at 1998 World Conference of WWW, Internet, and Internet Proceedings, Orlando, Florida. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED427705) Johnson, D. W. , Johnson, R. T. (1992). Encouraging thinking through constructive controversy. In N. Davidson, T. Worsham (Eds. ), Enhancing thinking through cooperative learning (pp. 120–137). New York: Teachers College Press. Kagan, S. (1994). Cooperative learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan Cooperative Learning. Lounsbury, J. W. , De Nieu, D. (1996). Collegiate psychological sense of community in relation to size of college/university and extroversion. Journal of Community Psychology, 24, 381–394. Maddux, C. M. , Johnson, D. L. , Willis, J. W. (1997). Educational computing: Learning with tomorrow’s technologies. Boston: Allyn Bacon. McMillan, D. W. (1996). Sense of community. Journal of Community Psychology, 24, 315–325. McMillan, D. W. , Chavis, D. M. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory. Journal of Community Psychology, 14, 6–23. Morrison, G. R. , Lowther, D. L. , DeMeulle, L. (1999). Integrating computer technology into the classroom. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Newborough, J. R. , Chavis, D. M. (1986). Psychological sense of community, 1: Foreword. Journal of Community Psychology, 14(1), 3–4. Pretty, G. M. , Conroy, C. , Dugay, J. , Fowler, K. , Williams, D. (1996). Sense of community and its relevance to adolescents of all ages. Journal of Community Psychology, 24, 365–379. Relan, A. (1992, February). Motivational strategies in computer-based instruction: Some lessons from theories and models of motivation. Proceed- July/August 2006 [Vol. 99(No. 6)] ings of selected research presentation at the 1992 Convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No ED348017) Roblyer, M. D. , Edwards, J. (2000). Integrating educational technology into teaching. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill. Roschelle, J. Penuel, W. R. , Abrahamson, L. A. (2004). The networked classroom. Educational Leadership, 61(5), 50–54. Rovai, A. P. , Grooms, L. D. (2004). The relationship of personalitybased learning style preferences and learning among online graduate students. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 16(1), 30–47. Rovai, A. P. , Lucking, R. A. (2000, September). Measuring sense of classroom community. Paper presented to Learning 2000: Reassessing the virtual university, Roanoke, VA. Rovai, A. P. , Lucking, R. A. (2003). Sense of community in a higher education television-based distance education program. Educational Technology Research and Development, 51(2), 5–16. Rovai, A. P. , Lucking, R. A. , Cristol, D. (2001). Sense of classroom community index. Unpublished manuscript, Regent University, Virginia Beach, VA. (Copyrighted instrument inquiries should be sent to: [emailprotected] edu) Royal, M. A. , Rossi, R. J. (1997). Schools as communities. Eugene, OR: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED405641) Schuler, D. (1996). New community networks: Wired for change (pp. 5–110). New York: Addison Wesley. Sharan, Y. , Sharan, S. 1992). Expanding cooperative learning through group investigation. New York: Teachers College Press. 379 Siegle, D. , Foster, T. (2000, April). Effects of laptop computers with multimedia and presentation software on student achievement. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED442465) Slavin, R. E. (1991). Synthesis of research on cooperative learning. Educational Leadership, 48, 71–82. Slavin, R. E. (1995). Cooperative learning. Boston: Allyn Bacon. Strike, K. A. (2004). Community, the missing element of school reform: Why schools should be more like congregations than banks. American Journal of Education, 110, 215–232. Susman, E. B. (1998). Cooperative learning: A review of factors that increase the effectiveness of cooperative computer-based instruction. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 18, 303–322. Todman, J. B. , File, P. E. (1990). A scale for children’s attitudes to computers. School Psychology International, 1, 71–75. Waxman, H. C. , Lin, M. F. , Michko, G. M. (2003). A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of teaching and learning with technology on student outcomes. Learning Point Associates. Retrieved November 15, 2004, from http://www. ncrel. org/tech/effects2 Wilson, B. , Lowry, M. (2000). Constructivist learning on the web. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 88, 79–88. Yaverbaum, G. L. , Ocker, R. J. (1998, November). Problem solving in the virtual classroom: A study of student perceptions related to collaborative learning techniques. Paper presented at the 1998 World Conference of WWW, Internet, and Internet Proceedings, Orlando, Florida. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED427750)

Online Shopping Safety free essay sample

Are you going to shop online this year? There are many people who shop online and have done so for several years without incident. Considering all the internet transactions that take place, various studies suggest that the percentage of those that are fraudulent are actually very small. Nonetheless, it only takes one time to put your financial world into a downward spiral. Today, I hope to empower you with some knowledge of what you can do to reduce the likelihood of being a target of fraud while shopping online. I’m going to give you tips on where to shop safely, what to look for, things about the technologies you’re going to use to do your shopping and finally tips on purchasing things on the internet. So, let’s get started! BODY: I. Where to shop safely. A. Stick to the retailers that you know. 1. Go directly to the retailer’s website. We will write a custom essay sample on Online Shopping Safety or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Avoid clicking on links from other pages that you think are going to take you there. 2. Beware of any misspellings on the domain address of the page. B. When in doubt check them out!! There are several ways that you can check this. . Is it a secure site? a. Sites are secure through a process of encryption, which is the technology that scrambles sensitive information (like your credit card number) so that only the designated merchant can read it. b. Look at the website’s URL and make sure that the address starts with HTTPS or that the padlock is closed on your browser when you are entering your financial information. 2. Additional security verifications are done through 3rd party companies. c. BBBOnline (Better Business Bureau Online) and Truste are most recognized and recommended. d. Recognize that these are just logos and you need to go to the actual 3rd party’s site and verify. II. Next, let’s take a look at the device (i. e. computer, tablet, smart phone) you use to do your online shopping. A. Is it a personal or shared (meaning public) machine? You want to avoid shopping on a shared device because of the possible spyware that may be installed on it. 1. Shopping at home is the preferred way, although mobile shopping is becoming increasing popular due to smart phones. Be extra cautious in verifying the credibility of the site in this scenario. 2. Make sure the Wi-Fi you are using is password protected and stick to familiar Wi-Fi hotspots (i. e. Starbucks). 3. Keep your browser up to date with the latest version. B. Make sure you have an internet security suite that includes an antivirus, firewall and antispyware installed and up to date with latest version. 1. Don’t click on links in emails as sometimes they have viruses attached to them. 2. Don’t click on unsolicited messages with . exe file extension unless it is from a trusted source. III. Now and most importantly, let’s talk about how we purchase things on the internet. A. There are many ways to pay for our purchases. 1. First let’s talk about debit vs. credit cards. Credit cards are the safest way to purchase. This is because you have the option of doing charge backs if needed, whereas, with debit cards you don’t have that option. 2. You can also use gift cards. 3. Another trending way is called online only or virtual credit cards which is where a bank or credit card company gives you a credit card number that is not your real account number but is able to make online purchases. 4. Alternately, if your still not sure or just don’t feel comfortable giving your credit information out, many online retailers have the option for you to order products online and pay for them over the phone. B. And finally, keep a paper trail. Print and save all your online transactions. Also, check your credit card statements as soon as you get them or check them online regularly as you practice your safe shopping habits. CONCLUSION: So, if you’re going to do some shopping online, remember, where to shop safely, use a secure site, computer and payment method and finally keep a good paper trail!

Darners, Family Aeshnidae

Darners, Family Aeshnidae Darners (Family Aeshnidae) are large, robust dragonflies and strong fliers. Theyre usually the first odonates youll notice zipping around a pond. The family name, Aeshnidae, was likely derived from the Greek word aeschna, meaning ugly. Description Darners command attention as they hover and fly around ponds and rivers. The largest species can reach 116 mm in length (4.5 inches), but most measure between 65 and 85 mm long (3 inches). Typically, a darner dragonfly has a thick thorax and a long abdomen, and the abdomen is slightly narrower just behind the thorax. Darners have huge eyes that meet broadly on the dorsal surface of the head, and this is one of the key characteristics to differentiate members of the family Aeshnidae from other dragonfly groups. Also, in darners, all four wings have a triangle-shaped section that extends lengthwise along the wing axis (see an illustration here). Classification Kingdom – Animalia Phylum – Arthropoda Class – Insecta Order – Odonata Suborder  - Anisoptera Family - Aeshnidae Diet Adult darners prey on other insects, including butterflies, bees, and beetles, and will fly considerable distances in pursuit of prey. Darners can catch small insects with their mouths while in flight. For larger prey, they form a basket with their legs and snatch the insect out of the air. The darner may then retreat to a perch to consume the meal. Darner naiads are also predaceous and are quite skilled at sneaking up on prey. The dragonfly naiad will hide within the aquatic vegetation, slowly crawling closer and closer to another insect, a tadpole, or a small fish, until it can strike quickly and catch it. Life Cycle Like all dragonflies and damselflies, darners undergo simple or incomplete metamorphosis with three life stages: egg, nymph (also called larva), and adult. Female darners cut a slit into an aquatic plant stem and insert their eggs (which is where they get the common name darners). When the young emerges from the egg, it makes its way down the stem into the water. The naiad molts and grows over time, and may take several years to reach maturity depending on the climate and species. It will emerge from the water and molt a final time into adulthood. Special Behaviors and Defenses: Darners have a sophisticated nervous system, which enables them to visually track and then intercept prey in flight. They fly almost constantly in pursuit of prey, and males will patrol back and forth across their territories in search of females. Darners are also better adapted to handle cool temperatures than other dragonflies. Their range extends farther north than many of their odonate cousins for this reason, and darners often fly later in the season when cool temperatures prevent other dragonflies from doing so. Range and Distribution Darners are widely distributed throughout the world, and the family Aeshnidae includes over 440 described species. Just 41 species inhabit North America. Sources Aeshna vs. Aeschna. Opinions and declarations rendered by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1958). Vol. 1B, pages 79-81.Borror and Delongs Introduction to the Study of Insects, 7th edition, by Charles A. Triplehorn and Norman F. Johnson.Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East, by Dennis Paulson.Aeshnidae: The Darners, Digital Atlas of Idaho, Idaho Museum of Natural History website. Accessed online May 7, 2014.World Odonata List, Slater Museum of Natural History website. Accessed online May 7, 2014.Dragonfly Behavior, Minnesota Odonata Survey Project. Accessed online May 7, 2014.Aeshnidae, by Dr. John Meyer, North Carolina State University. Accessed online May 7, 2014.Family Aeshnidae – Darners, Bugguide.net. Accessed online May 7, 2014.Dragonflies and Damselflies, University of Florida. Accessed online May 7, 2014.Eight pairs of descending visual neurons in the dragonfly give wing motor centers accurate population vector of prey direction, Paloma T. Gonz alez-Bellido et al, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, January 8, 2013. Accessed online May 7, 2014.

Ethics, Consumerism and Social Responsibility Essay

Ethics, Consumerism and Social Responsibility - Essay Example British petroleum is the largest oil company in the world on the basis of market capitalization and proven reserves. It was established in 1908 with oil found in the rugged Persian Gulf after a long and difficult such. Since then, it has transformed from a local oil company to a global energy group, which focuses on various forms of energy. Their businesses include exploration of oil, production, refinery and marketing chemicals. It is the largest energy producing companies in the world that provide fuel for transportation and manufacturing. It extends its services to marketing of petroleum chemicals with a growing presence in gas and solar energy. Due to the nature of its major product, oil, the company is mostly linked to ethical issues such as environmental challenges on a global scale. However, in recent years, the British petroleum company has embarked on reviewing its ethical issues both to its employees and the public. This move is aimed at improving public confidence and prof it maximization for the company. Ethical business practice This is the use of business policies properly in regard to controversial related issues like corporate governance, corporate social responsibility (CSR), bribery, insider training and discrimination (Terry 2011). It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of a particular individual and the entire organization. The work of business ethics is to implicitly regulate areas and details of behavior that lie beyond government control. Therefore, business ethics ensures good moral business practices in the society hence creating conducive environment for competitors, consumers, suppliers, the government and all other stakeholders in the business. Ethical theories Business ethical theories and principles are the foundations of ethical analysis of the business because they are the viewpoints of the society to the business. Through this analysis, the guidance on the ethical performance of the business can be found. These theories include utilitarian approach, rights ethical approach, justice approach, the common good approach and the virtue approach (Leonard, 2011). Utilitarian approach This is the oldest business ethics theory propagated by philosophers like Jeremy, Bentham, James Mill and Mill’s son John Stuart Mill (John 2002). This approach focuses on using ethical actions that would promote values among the societies while limiting the amount of harm as possible. It therefore incorporates the maximum number of stakeholders for it to succeed. In the recent past, the British petroleum company has not been able to limit the amount of harm caused by the company’s operations. Accidents due to human error and mechanical failures have been blamed on various occasions. For example, explosions in Texas in 2005 that killed workers; also oil spill in Alaska in 2006, which over 250000 gallons of oil spilled through,

Project Management Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Project Management - Research Proposal Example Throughout literature, there seems to be a two-sided wave of discussion on the core forms of risk associated with the oil and gas industry. These are what may be referred to as historical risk factors and complex modern risk factors (Geman, 2005). Parigi and Guiso (1999) noted that the oil and gas industry has for long suffered from historical risk factors that have always seemed to be available, no matter the area of investment in the industry. Some of the specific historical risk factors are named to include commodity price volatility, geopolitics, cost risk, demand and supply risk, and political risk. In the estimation of Grenadier (2002) however, even though these historical risk factors cannot be pushed under the carpet, the industry continues to experience so much complexity that expands its risks beyond those mentioned earlier. In the light of this, the industry is said to be faced with complex modern risk factors which are directly focused on macroeconomic influences (Hansen, 1982). With this said, the industry can be said to be harboring a form of increasing proclivity of mega-projects at the national levels which account for a leveraged economies of scale, which have pushed for the existence of macroeconomic influences. There are a number investment appraisal and risk management techniques used in the oil and gas industry today. This section of the review gives an overview of these techniques, when they are considered right for application, and the limitation that comes with each. The first technique is the accounting rate of return (ARR). Williams (2002) noted that this technique is appropriate in determining the profit an investor requires from an investment as against the amount invested. Its limitation however is that it is not considered suitable when dealing with competing projects as competing projects may have same rate of return but different net present value (Parigi and Guiso, 1999). There is also the use of payback