ECOLOGY, SUSTAINABILITY & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT Essay

ECOLOGY, SUSTAINABILITY & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT - Essay Example In essence, the principal of sustainability encompasses several significant considerations that are associated with the concept of development as the foundations of this practice aim to work towards the protection of resources for future use. Grierson (2009; p.143) identifies two key objectives of sustainable development which are outlined as the attainment of an enhanced quality of life for all forms of life on Earth and striking a balance between the economic and social activities that are conducted by human beings and the efficient utilization of resources that have been granted by the natural environment. However, the aforementioned definition of sustainable development only represents a fraction of what the notion actually means and what it signifies in relation to the built environment. Indeed, sustainability must be practiced in each and every field to ensure that the planet’s ability to sustain life successfully is prolonged once the protection of natural resources is ensured. Nevertheless, the amalgamation of sustainability in architecture highlights the importance of comprehending the gravity of the situation and exploring areas of observation that require improvement so that the objectives of sustainable development can be achieved. ... Guy (p.126) understands that sustainable design is not merely a topic which needs to be evaluated or critiqued upon by means of abundant literature; this notion is best supported by the fact that even in today’s day and age the quest for uncovering the ideal solution which dictates the best practice of sustainable architecture has not been uncovered yet. Grierson (2009; p.145-146) expounds upon the challenges which are posed by the development of sustainable design by stating that any initiative which aims to work towards the establishment of sustainable communities should examine the several challenges that could arise as a consequence of this decision so that any difficulties or drawbacks are avoided in the future. The evaluation of sustainable design and development frameworks comprises of descriptions of various construction methods and procedures that are characterized by a high demand for quality which in turn encompasses economic, financial, social and environmental fac tors (Grierson 2009; p.146). Grierson (2009; p.146) postulates that the sustainability of a building should be calculated on the basis of its life cycle, which fundamentally implies that the quality of all aspects that are associated with the building must be considered to arrive at thorough conclusions. This notion is also evidenced by the research of Head (2006; p.5) who represents a comprehensive urban development framework by specifically taking into account a sustainable approach that is present in the researcher’s case study of Dong Tan Eco-City. The study recommends the adoption of an integrated approach to value through better design by highlighting the factors that are associated with

Medication Errors, Safety, Prevention and Reporting Essay

Medication Errors, Safety, Prevention and Reporting - Essay Example Medication errors that can lead to harmful effects on the patients can be prevented if nurses take the proper responsibilities of safety and reporting. Medication errors, particularly related to nursing, are defined as the errors that might lead to improper use of medication, causing harm to the patients, when the patient is in charge of some healthcare professional or nurses (Medication Errors, 2013). Medication Errors, Safety, Prevention, and Reporting:While medication errors may occur at any place, it has been found that the errors most commonly occur even when patients are in charge of any doctor, in nursing homes, under the case of nurses. It is highly essential and recommended to consult doctors before taking any medication in order to avoid harmful effects or injuries resultant from wrong medications. An example of medication error is intake of a prescription painkiller along with a non-prescription painkiller. In such cases, the dosage exceed the limit that should be taken an d thus cause damage to the livers. Thus safety measures need to be taken in order to avoid such errors in medication. Having a proper communication between the doctor and the nurses is one of the safest ways to clearly understand which drug is being provided to the patients (Medication Errors and Safety, 2010).It has been obtained that such medication errors can be prevented if certain cautious measures are considered. In many cases, the doctor may prescribe a wrong medicine, or the pharmacist may provide with a wrong drug. In such cases the nurses take the role to catch the wrong being taking place and protect the patients from the wrong treatments. However, when nurses make such mistakes themselves, they might have to pay for their mistakes. It can be considered that nurses being humans, mistakes might occur by them as well. Thus it is necessary to take certain steps that can at least minimize such mistakes, particularly when the lives of patients are at cost. For this purpose, th ere are certain rights of medication administration that if followed by the nurses can prevent such errors (Lampert, 2012). These rights include checking with two identifiers to ensure that the right medication is being provided to the intended patients. The names and the dates of birth of the patients should be checked in such cases along with checking the history of the patient. Checking the medication is another step that ensures that the intended medication is only provided and has not been mistaken with any other drug. The nurses should also check the appropriateness of the medication, and also the correctness of the amounts of the medications being offered to the patients (Lampert, 2012). These are some of the medication administration rights that need to be followed effectively by nurses in order to avoid medication errors. Some of the other preventive measures that can avoid medication

Progress learners have made and identify learning needs

Progress learners have made and identify learning needs In this reflective assignment I have chosen to explore standard Q28: Support learners to reflect on their learning, identify ; focusing specifically on the integration of metacognitive strategies into a sequence of lessons. These strategies included making peer and self-evaluation an established part of every lesson. Making pupils aware of what they have learnt, mirroring pupils responses, and modelling exemplary metacognitive thought processes by thinking out loud. The essence of metacognition is thinking about thinking; having an awareness of what you already know and what you do not know, knowing how to learn and acquire new knowledge, knowing which strategies to use and when to use them (Wilson Bai, 2010). Metacognitive skills can be taught to pupils of any age and ability, and research has shown that pupils with metacognitive skills perform better in school (Sternberg, 1998). The reason I am interested in cultivating metacognition is because it improves pupils critical thinking skills (Ku Ho, 2010). In order to teach metacognitive skills the teacher must first create a learning environment in which pupils are expected to participate in reflective and evaluative activities (Leat Lin, 2007). The metacognitive strategies were trialled with a class of thirty top-set Year 8 girls over a period of two weeks (six lessons); coinciding with the start of a new science topic: Chemical Reactions and Materials. At the start of the first lesson pupils were given a self-evaluation checklist for all of the concepts they were going to be taught during the following sequence of lessons. They were then given the opportunity to write down any prior knowledge of these concepts, and to tick off any they felt confident with already. Pupils were instructed to place the checklist at the front of their files for use later on in the lesson and during the rest of the unit. A three-stage self-evaluation framework was devised in order to promote pupils metacognition at well-defined point within each lesson. At the start of each lesson all pupils were expected to record the learning objectives (as communicated by the teacher) in the appropriate space on the checklist. Approximately two-thirds of the way through the lesson, pupils were told to consider whether or not they were meeting the learning objectives. Pupils used a traffic light system of red, orange and green coloured pages within their planners to communicate their responses to the teacher. Pupils not meeting learning objectives were asked to write down what actions they would have to take in order to meet them At the end each lesson pupils were given time to identify what they had learnt and how they would address areas of weakness. When planning fifty minute lessons, thirty percent of the total lesson time had to be allocated to the three five-minute self-evaluation stages. In hindsight, it may have been a more efficient use of time to either self-evaluate every other lesson, or to assign self-evaluation as part of the class regular homework. Starting and ending lessons with a metacognitive task is commensurate with the three-part lesson structure of starter, main and plenary that seems to be in vogue. Placing a metacognitive task in the midst of a lesson may appear to disrupt the natural flow, but the anticipated change to an habitual task could serve as an opportunity for some pupils to refocus their attention and make better use of the remaining lesson time than they otherwise may have done. During the first lesson in the sequence the introduction and explanation of the self-evaluation system required a significant portion of the lesson time. I dont think there would have been any way around this. I had anticipated that during each of the subsequent lessons pupils would become more accustomed to the system and would therefore need less guidance. However, some pupils had been absent from the initial lesson in which the system was introduced and required additional teacher time to bring them up to speed. I dont think that this would be an issue if the system had been implemented over a significantly longer time scale, as pupils would inevitably become familiar with the format of checklist and how and when to fill it in independently. In addition, various pupils would either lose or forget to bring their checklists to lessons, hence requiring replacement checklists and losing information which they should have accumulated. For these pupils it is clear that they would not be in a position to reap the full benefits of completing the self-evaluations when the time came to prepare for their end of unit test. I think that all of the pupils had a degree of appreciation for the potential benefits of this system, but some more so than others. During the Year 8 consultation evening several parents provided positive comments after having noticed the checklists in the childs file. The general feeling was that the parents approved of pupils thinking critically about their own learning. At the end of the sequence of lessons, pupils who had been regularly completing the self-evaluation checklist were able to easily identify gaps in their learning. These gaps could then be addressed during revision the time allocated to prepare for the end of unit test. I think that if I had been teaching practical lessons, and in this unit there werent any, I would have found it much more difficult to allocate a time slot for self-evaluation during the lesson. This three-part framework is clearly an explicit means of artificially imposing a metacognitive activity upon the pupils. However, it is a usual part of my every day teaching style to think out loud, and to encourage pupils to do the same when answering problems. This is an established technique for enhancing pupils metacognitive abilities, which I find comes quite naturally. By thinking out loud the teacher is modelling the sort of processes, lines of reasoning, and questions which they are pursuing and asking themselves in order to reach the solution to a problem. By mimicking an exemplar under the guidance and elicitation of the teacher, pupils can assimilate this skill and apply it independently. I think that pupils often do not know how to tackle a problem for which they down know the answer immediately off hand. Some will just sit there and wait for the teacher to come over to them and intervene. Others would unthinkingly throw their hand into the air and expect to be told the answer straight away. It is often frustrating when I discover that a pupil hasnt even attempted to form an approach to finding an answer. Without explicit training most wont automatically know the sorts of questions they need to be asking of themselves, and are far too easily waylaid or disheartened by perceived unfamiliarity when a known problem is placed in an alternative context. I was not been able to gauge or quantify pupils metacognitive skill and I think this could be the basis of an interesting research enquiry, however, I did notice that pupils were generally more persistent after the sequence of lessons. Particular pupils who previously would have given up straight away were at least attempt ing to engage problems more before asking for assistance. I think that metacognitive ability is intrinsically linked with pupils motivation and self-efficacy. In my experience, pupils who are not sure how to approach a problem can attribute this inability to their own incompetence, which will invariably initiate a cycle of negative feedback with their self-esteem. Working with such pupils on an individual basis I was able to give them the confidence and necessary individualised scaffolding to attempt unfamiliar problems. I often began by asking them to think out loud so that I could see exactly how they were approaching a particular problem. I would then ask them if they could think of an alternative way to approach the same problem, or to ask one of their friends how they would approach the same problem. This has been an approach which I have always taken, but during this series of lesson I have placed a lot more emphasis on pupils sharing their thought processes with each other e.g. via a think, pair, share style activity. As a consequence of having taught a series of lessons with a strong emphasis on simple metacognitive strategies, I am motivated to continue using these strategies and to seek out new ones which complement or supersede them.

Hunger Exam :: essays research papers

The Disturbing Elements of Knut Hamsen’s Hunger   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"One of the most disturbing novels in existence† writes Time Out magazine on the 1890 novel Hunger. This criticism seems extreme considering the nature of more modern texts; people now consume books full of gore and lewd sex. Despite this recent trend in fiction, Knut Hamsen’s Hunger continues to strike a cord with its readers. As Time Out’s quote suggests, this continuity is due to the book’s disturbing theme. Hunger disturbs the way people often assume a man would behave while in the depths of poverty’s grasp. The text disturbs the common concept that, if a man is desperate he will ignore his pride and decency for the opportunity to escape his situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The protagonist is himself achingly hungry when a man begs him to spare a bit of money to buy a meal. One would likely presume that the famished protagonist would consider his own breakfast before another’s. This however, is not the case. â€Å"‘I haven’t eaten a thing since yesterday in Drammen, â€Å" the man said. â€Å"‘ I don’t have an ore and I still can’t find work.’† (8). After a bit of trivial dialogue, the protagonist responds to the beggar’s statement, â€Å"‘Wait here a few minuets, and I’ll see if I can’t find something for you, a little something at least.’† He says. (9). The protagonist goes on to pawn his own waistcoat in order to appease his comrade’s hunger. While it is true that a portion of the money brought in by the waistcoat the protagonist used to purchase his own meager food, the fact remains that the majority of the coins were given away. If taken at face value, the exchange was a simple gesture of kindness but, if one were to dig deeper the contribution if found to have been made out of pride. The protagonist was proud that a man had perceived him as a person who had the means to donate a meal. F or the character to have admitted that he was just hungry himself would have effectively dashed the pride that he so savored. Pride that to the protagonist was worth the value of a hungry man’s meal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The narrator’s stubborn pride is highlighted shortly after the previous passage. As he wanders about the early morning streets his shabby blanket in tow, the man’s mind wanders. â€Å"What would people think of me? So I walked along trying to think of someplace where it would be safe until later. Hunger Exam :: essays research papers The Disturbing Elements of Knut Hamsen’s Hunger   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"One of the most disturbing novels in existence† writes Time Out magazine on the 1890 novel Hunger. This criticism seems extreme considering the nature of more modern texts; people now consume books full of gore and lewd sex. Despite this recent trend in fiction, Knut Hamsen’s Hunger continues to strike a cord with its readers. As Time Out’s quote suggests, this continuity is due to the book’s disturbing theme. Hunger disturbs the way people often assume a man would behave while in the depths of poverty’s grasp. The text disturbs the common concept that, if a man is desperate he will ignore his pride and decency for the opportunity to escape his situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The protagonist is himself achingly hungry when a man begs him to spare a bit of money to buy a meal. One would likely presume that the famished protagonist would consider his own breakfast before another’s. This however, is not the case. â€Å"‘I haven’t eaten a thing since yesterday in Drammen, â€Å" the man said. â€Å"‘ I don’t have an ore and I still can’t find work.’† (8). After a bit of trivial dialogue, the protagonist responds to the beggar’s statement, â€Å"‘Wait here a few minuets, and I’ll see if I can’t find something for you, a little something at least.’† He says. (9). The protagonist goes on to pawn his own waistcoat in order to appease his comrade’s hunger. While it is true that a portion of the money brought in by the waistcoat the protagonist used to purchase his own meager food, the fact remains that the majority of the coins were given away. If taken at face value, the exchange was a simple gesture of kindness but, if one were to dig deeper the contribution if found to have been made out of pride. The protagonist was proud that a man had perceived him as a person who had the means to donate a meal. F or the character to have admitted that he was just hungry himself would have effectively dashed the pride that he so savored. Pride that to the protagonist was worth the value of a hungry man’s meal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The narrator’s stubborn pride is highlighted shortly after the previous passage. As he wanders about the early morning streets his shabby blanket in tow, the man’s mind wanders. â€Å"What would people think of me? So I walked along trying to think of someplace where it would be safe until later.

Management by exception Essay

With the release of the new budget for year 9 from Competition Bikes, there are a couple of areas that are a concern that warrant being addressed. The first being the prediction of amount of bikes to be sold; Competition Bikes is expecting 3,510 units to be sold after a year 8 that sold only 3,400 units which was a 15% drop in sales from the year prior (which sold approximately 4,000 units) with zero drop in price point which may make it harder for customers to justify purchasing a bike in the current economy. Understandably, year 8 was in the middle of a recession and the economy could rebound for a productive year 9. However, with only an extra $984 being spent on advertisement, the expectations could fall short unless advertisement spending is increased to approximately the $2,000 range it was in year 7. Competition Bikes is putting themselves at risk for over ordering raw materials and a surplus of raw materials only takes up more storage space, which leads to extra money being s pent for storage. There is also an issue with General and Administration Expenses. General and Admin expenses is the same amount as it was in year 8 ($170,000). However, in year 7, Competition Bikes spent $12,000 less and sold 600 more units then it did in year 8. Year 7 was proof that Competition Bikes has the ability to produce and sell a successful amount of bikes without having an extremely high operational cost. That extra $12,000 could be spread into other aspects such as: advertising, factory maintenance and even bonuses. 2. A flexible budget is a budget that adjusts or flexes for changes in the volume of activity† (Averkamp, 2013). A flexible budget is more useful than a static budget because it is based on actual output. The difference between an actual output and a budgeted amount is known as a variance. When the amount of the actual result is higher than budgeted, it is considered favorable, whereas when the budgeted amount turns out higher is unfavorable. Within the Competition Bikes flexible budget there are a few favorable variances, the first one of note being within Net Sales. The company had a budget of $5,247,250, with the flexible budget being $5,117,385, however the  final numbers were $5,096,847, which gives the company an unfavorable variance of -$130,065. Total Variable Cost however was a favorable expense. With a planned budget of $3,967,962 and a flexible budget of $3,869,612 the actual output was $3,805,400 the favorable variance came out to $98,349. Contribution margin was also an unfavorable variance (-$31,716). Advertising Expenses went over cost for an unfavorable variance of $3,754 from a standard budget of $28,412 and a flexible budget of $27,708. The extra money spent towards advertising may have been to help boost extra sales towards the end of the year. Transportation Out also went over its budget for an unfavorable variance by $5,607. However, there is more to the Transportation Out than what the budget says. The price of shipment is supposed to be $30 per unit and with 87 less units sold; there should be an extra $2,610 in the budget. This requires extra investigation. 2A. In terms of corrective action, the best course is to focus on where the points where there were unfavorable variances. A key point to that would be to also create realistic predictions of sales and budget. By predicting a high sales goal (one that exceeds the amount of units sold the year prior), Competition Bikes is potentially setting itself up for another down year. To prevent another unfavorable variance in Net Sales, which was affected by the unfavorable Actual Output of Units Sold. Although the projection output was missed by only 87 units, that totaled out to $130,065. It would behoove Competition Bikes to create realistic predictions (as stated above). Another idea would to be to examine the sales process. Compare and contrast what strategies were compared between the successful year 7 and the down year 8 to determine if any changes took place in the sales process and development. Competition Bikes should not have been as aggressive as they were following a down year. An improved variance here could also directly affect the Contribution Margin and Operating Income, which both were unfavorable. Advertising Expenses should be increased to the level of year 7. Competition Bikes lowered their budget for advertising but yet ended up spending more  anyway. With the economy still in a rut, the chances of hitting a high prediction is slim, especially with low advertising. Since fewer sponsors are using the products from Competition Bikes, it would be wise to advertise to a different market of users (i.e. college students, those who live in traffic congested cities (New York), bike cops, etc). Meanwhile, the transportation unfavorable variance could be fixed by determining what the additional costs were. Since the transportation cost per units is $30, with sales prediction 87 less than projected, that is $2,610 that could have put transportation costs into favorable. The additional costs could be because of rising fuel prices, toll roads, raises for drivers, etc. Many avenues have to be explored in the future to save money on transportation (renegotiate contracts, new source of transportation, new transportation company, etc.) 2B. â€Å"Management by exception is the practice of examining the financial and operational results of a business, and only bringing issues to the attention of management if results represent substantial differences from the budgeted or expected amount† (Steven Bragg, 2014). This practice can be effective as it leaves upper management with more serious issues. By utilizing accurate and up-to-date information, management can keep the budget on track and consistent with what was forecasted. One main target for Management By Exception is net sales. Breaking down the yearly goals into weekly or monthly targets will allow the company to better breakdown the trends and identify areas of need and growth. By monitoring the trend of sales, management can initiate discussions on how to improve sales and how to keep up with demand if sales are higher than expected. Competition Bikes would be wise to make start/restart contract negotiations to maintain consistent material and labor costs. Spending variance on materials was favorable but labor was unfavorable. If the price of the materials or labor increase substantially overtime, the budget could become more expensive, costing the company more money. Works Cited Averkamp, Harold. â€Å"What is a flexible budget?.† Learn Accounting Online for Free. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014. . Bragg, Steven. â€Å"What is management by exception? – Questions & Answers – AccountingTools.† What is management by exception? – Questions & Answers – AccountingTools. N.p., 5 June 2013. Web. 28 Feb. 2014. .

Are all the characters in this novella lonely? Essay

In the 1930’s, American ranch workers were living in very lonely, dingy conditions. They would travel for days on end, sleeping rough when and where they had to. They would travel to work long hours for minimum wage. George and Lennie were no exception to this. From the beginning they have to sleep rough whilst they are travelling to Soledad, which also is also the Spanish word for â€Å"lonely†. We find out from the beginning that George and Lennie are complete opposites of each other. George is described as being smaller and slimmer than Lennie, who is very tall and big built. We also see that Lennie tries to copy George a lot, as they both wear the same clothing, and carry their gear in the same way. â€Å"They had walked in single file down the path, and even it the open one stayed behind the other.† This quotation is important because this shows us that Lennie follows George as if he was his mother. This also shows us that Lennie isn’t capable of thinking for himself, so he has to rely on George, being his mother figure, to do everything for him. We can see that George can easily lose his temper with Lennie, when Lennie refuses to get rid of the dead mouse in his pocket. â€Å"George stood up and threw the mouse as far as he could†¦/ don’t you think I could see your feet was wet where you went across the river to get it?† In chapter two, the unequal relationship between the stable buck and the rest of the ranch workers when Candy talks to George; â€Å"He was sure burned when you weren’t here this morning†¦/ An’ he gave the stable buck hell, too.† When the boss gets angry, he takes it out on the stable buck, as he cannot defend himself, partly because of his crooked spine, but also because if he did fight back, then the boss would probably have him killed because of the ethnic differences. In chapter four, the first reasons for Crooks’ loneliness show through. Firstly, he does not sleep with the other ranch workers; he sleeps inside the harness room by himself. The only things he has inside his ‘room’ are â€Å"a mauled copy of the California civil code for 1905†, and â€Å"a tattered dictionary†. The California civil code in his room shows us that he has been educated in his youth, and that he also knows his personal rights. The dictionary in his room shows us that he has tried to understand every word in his California civil code. In this chapter, it is quite obvious that Curley’s wife is going to be lonely, as she is the only woman on the ranch. â€Å"Sat’iday night. Ever’ body out doin’ som’pin†¦/ an’ likin’ it because they ain’t nobody else.† This quotation speaks for itself really, as she is complaining about having to spend time with Lenny, Candy and Crooks. She has to speak with the â€Å"losers† of the ranch and like it because there is no-one else for her to talk to. Another reason why she is lonely is because of the way that Curley treats her. â€Å"Sure I gotta husban’. You all seen him†¦/ â€Å"Jus’ the ol’ one-two an’ he’ll go down†Ã¢â‚¬  She is telling us that Curley doesn’t care about her at all, and that she obviously doesn’t like the way that she’s being treated. In chapter 5, on page 100, Steinbeck creates a feeling of shock and quiet reflection through the shattering of their dream. â€Å"Before George answered, Candy dropped his head and looked down at the bay. He knew.† At the end of page 100, George quickly comes up with a plan. This creates a feeling of pace and action. This signifies the calm before the storm, in tune with the same technique the author had used earlier in the book before Lenny killed Curley’s wife, and at the very beginning of the book. In conclusion, it is quite clear that all the characters in this novella are lonely in their own way. George is lonely in the end after he kills Lenny, this parallels the shooting of Candy’s dog ~ both are shot to protect them from further pain. Candy loses his only companion when Carlson shoots his dog for the selfish reason that it smells. Curley’s wife is lonely throughout the novella until Lenny accidentally kills her, and at the end of chapter 4, Crooks returns to his old self, as he rejects Candy and the others. Crooks chooses to be lonely, however, as he feels safe by himself.