Occupation decision Essay Example for Free

Occupation decision Essay My decision to enter medical school started after my grandfather suffered a heart attack at the age of 20. Although this incident hurt me very much because of the medical staff inability to save his life disappointed me. After the grieving process was complete I began to consider a career in the healthcare industry. My initial step toward entering a career in the healthcare industry was to shadow a cardiologist which I believed would provide me an opportunity for me to learn what a life as a healthcare provider would be like. Once I decided that I would like to pursue a career in medicine I enrolled in college and currently completing a bachelors of science in Biology. I found the healthcare profession to be exciting and realized that it afforded me the opportunity to help the sick and injured which I believe I will enjoy and have a talent for. My experience working for the cardiologist affords me the opportunity to learn basic healthcare skills such as obtaining vital signs. Record keeping is an important part of managing a practice and my experience of tracking records has afforded me the opportunity to demonstrate this important skill. My ultimate goal is to complete medical school, a residency and then pursue a fellowship in either cardiology or neurology. One of the goals I have is to help prevent people form suffering an untimely death such as my grandfather by seeking to provide optimal care to prevent the consequences of poor health. I believe that the desire to help people created by my grandfather’s untimely death will help me provide competent and compassionate care. These traits will be advantageous to MUA because of the positive public image perception it will create. My undergraduate instructors and the cardiologist that I have followed I hope to someday model that inspirational behavior. Although I do not have many academic credentials currently but my desire to help people who are sick and injured. I am finishing my last semester with a bachelor of science in biology. This background in biology has provided me with the basic scientific knowledge which has developed a strong foundation for me to build upon with the courses to follow. I am of reputable character which is an important character trait because of the high level of trust needed between a physician and provider. The office work and shadowing I completed prior to my enrollment in college has provided me a unfettered glimpse of the struggles and benefits of pursing a career in healthcare. I believe that because of the reasons I listed I would be an excellent candidate for admission to your program. .

Factors to be considered for market segmentation

Factors to be considered for market segmentation This section reviews the literature related to various key deliverables identified for this dissertation. The main deliverables of this projects are developing a growth strategy to expand in domestic as well as international market and identifying the potential location for a cross dock or a warehouse. This section is divided in six parts, first part gives idea about the grocery market, in second part key elements and approaches of strategic management are discussed, third part looks at factors to be considered for market segmentation and market attractiveness, in fourth section a survey conducted by Lawson Software on growth strategies adopted by distributors discussed , in fifth part export expansion strategies are reviewed and last part overviews warehouse/ depot location problem and approaches to identifying new depot. 2. 2 Grocery Market Overview Grocery market can be divided in two main categories one is grocery retailing and other is grocery wholesaling. Eden farm is a wholesale distributor supplying frozen food and ice cream to wholesalers as well as convenience store, hence understanding structure of both the market segment is important. 2.2.1 Grocery Retailing The UK grocery retail market is considered to be oligopolistic as there are so many players and competition is fierce to earn the market share and customer loyalty. The following diagram shows that the retail industry has grown consistently at 3 5% to the present value of  £ 146.3bn (IGD website, 2010). D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintmarket performance.JPG The retail market is dominated by superstores, supermarkets and hypermarkets operated by big retailers such as Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and co ops, which enjoy more than 70% market share. Convenience retailing has c21% market share which is mainly dominated by symbol groups. The following diagram shows the overall structure of the retail market. D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintuk retail structure.JPG 2.2.2 Grocery Wholesaling Wholesalers supply goods to small retailers who cannot directly reach to the manufactures. Wholesalers also support retailers by offering other services like store design and management, delivery and distribution services. Grocery wholesaling is mainly divided in two groups, first is cash and carry service where the retailer visits the large warehouse and picks the items he needs and the second is delivered wholesale where the retailer orders the items over phone or on the internet and receives the order at his store. The total wholesale business is c £18.3bn (IGD website, 2010). The following chart shows the growth of cash carries and delivered wholesale in last ten years. D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintcash and carry.JPG A research conducted by Quinn and Sparks (2007) on evolution of grocery wholesaling and wholesalers since the 1930s in UK and Ireland observed that the research on grocery wholesaling is almost non-existent. 2.3 Strategy- what is it? Strategy word is used by many people day to day in different context and has become a catchall (Hambrick and Fredrickson, 2001). Carpenter and Sanders (2009) defines strategy in simple terms as Strategy is the coordinated means by which an organization pursues its goals and objectives (Carpenter and Sanders, 2009). This simple definition emphasizes on actions that are either taken or needs to be taken or planned to achieve the company objectives. Hambrick and Fredrickson (2001) supports above definition by mentioning that strategy should integrate internal and external orientation to achieve firm objectives. The following diagram clearly separates strategy from company mission and objectives. D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintstrategy.png Strategy should address how the firm will achieve the set objective. For Eden Farm the objective is to achieve profitable sales increase by  £20 million in next five years. 2.3.1 Strategic Analysis Michel Porter (1996) argues that strategy is not about achieving operational effectiveness (OE). Porter defines operational effectiveness as doing identical activities in a superior way than the competitor. The reason he says that OE cannot be a strategy is that rivals can easily copy the operational improvements and match the performance levels. He further mentions that operational effectiveness and strategy should go hand in hand to achieve the top performance which is the main goal of any firm. Doing benchmarking makes rivals look alike, so the heart of strategy lies in doing the activities in a way different than others. This highlights the importance of competitive advantage, which is defined by Carpenters and Saunders (2009) as A firms ability to create value in a way that its rivals cannot. Porter (1980) suggested that competitive advantage can be achieved by firms by either positioning itself in an attractive industry or devising strategies which can make the existing industr y more attractive. He suggested Five Forces framework to analyze the industry structure and identify the sources of competitive advantage among these forces and then positioning the firm to achieve an edge over rivals. Barney (1991) argues to achieve sustained competitive advantage firm should have resources and capabilities which are valuable, rare, inimitable, non substitutable and rare (VRINE), this school of thought is called resource based view (RBV). A third school of thought focuses dynamic conditions and argues that RBV has limitations in fast changing environment and competitive advantage is achieved by firms by continuously configuring its resources. Carpenter and Sanders(2009) clubs these three perspectives together as shown in the diagram below and suggests that competitive advantage is not long lasting and firm needs to continuously look back and analyze how they achieved this position and predict competitive landscape in future to influence it. D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintcompetitive advantage.png 2.3.1.1 External Analysis Industry Analysis using Porters Five Forces External analysis forms a very important part on strategic analysis. The external environment can be divided into two groups as macro and micro environment. To analyze macro environment PESTEL tool is used which is acronym for Political, Economical, Socio cultural, Technological, Environmental and Legal analysis. This analysis is more useful when companies plan to expand internationally and enter into new countries. For Eden Farm being a distributor of frozen food, PESTEL analysis is not more appropriate as the firm does not foresee it establishing a base in other country and is focusing direct export only. (Carpenter and Sanders, pp 133-135, 2009) Micro analysis focuses on analyzing industry structure using five forces model developed by Porter(1979). The model suggest that in any industry a strategic analysis should look at buyer and supplier power, competition among the players in the industry, analysis of threat posed by substitute products or services and understand the entry barriers for new entrants. Porter mentions that depending on the industry the power of each force varies, but it is the cumulative strength of these forces which drive the profitability of the particular industry. The following diagram shows the Porters five forces model. D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaint5forces 1.JPG Above diagram shows in detail the factors contributing towards each market force, managers should give due attention to each point shown below to draw appropriate conclusion for developing the strategy. Porter argues if these forces are weak then companies can achieve very good performance and adds, it is the strongest force among these forces which decides the overall profit potential of the industry and managers needs to give due attention to this strong force while formulating the strategy. Carpenter and Sanders(2009) added complementors as the sixth force to the five forces model and argues that complementors are those factors which help to increase the sales of the firm and increase profits. When understanding the industry structure Porter (2008) emphasizes importance of defining the industry boundaries, defining boundaries too broadly loses the focus and managers become unable to see the real competition and defining industry boundaries narrowly misses the similarities in produ ct groups or potential markets which are crucial for competitive advantage. 2.3.1.2 Internal Analysis A Resource Based View (RBV) Jay Barney (1991) suggested that firms should focus on internal strengths to exploit the opportunities in the market and defuse the effect of external threats and mitigate the weaknesses. The diagram below splits the SWOT analysis in two parts, one is internal analysis which focuses on firms resources and the second is external analysis which classifies industry attractiveness. D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintbarney.png Barney (1991) argues that proponents of environmental model (Caves Porter 1977, Porter 1980, 1985) have assumed that in an industry firms possess similar resources and heterogeneity in the industry is cannot stay for longer as resources are same, however supporters of resource based model (Penrose, 1958; Rumelt 1984; Wernerfelt, 1984, 1989) believes that firms do possess heterogeneous resources of strategic importance and that this difference of resources can last longer. Barney (1991, 1995) states that to achieve the sustained competitive advantage firms need to employ value creating strategies in a way that no other firm can reproduce it and mentions that it can be possible when a firm have resources which are heterogeneous and immobile. To be the source of competitive advantage resources needs to fulfill criteria of being valuable, rare, inimitable and non substitutability. Valuable resources are those which enable companies to develop strategies which improve efficiencies and ef fectiveness to reduce the cost, resulting into exploiting opportunities and defusing threats (Barney 1991, 1995; Collins and Montgomery, 1995). Barney mentions that firms having resources which fulfill four criterias should be in a position to exploit them to achieve the sustained advantage. Wernerfelt (1984) highlights customer loyalty as a source of competitive advantage. Collins and Montgomery (1995) mention that inimitability of the firm resources can be because the firm has unique physical location, a strong brand image or casual ambiguity about the source of such advantage. 2.3.1.3 Dynamic Environment Analysis Despite its popularity resource based view (RBV) has been criticized by some authors because it does not explain how firms achieve relevant resources for dynamic markets. Mosakowski and Mckelvey (1997), Priem and Butler (2000) and Williamson (1990) argues that RBV is unclear and tautological and fails to explain the mechanism by which resources contributes towards achieving competitive advantage. Teece and Pisano (1994) coined a new terminology of dynamic capabilities; the word dynamic refers to the ability to reconfiguring competencies in this fast paced continuously changing world and the term capability focuses on strategic managements role in adapting, integrating and reconfiguring skills, resources and functional competences to fulfill requirements of a changing world (Teece and Pisano, 1994) . Eisenhardt and Martin (2000) observed that dynamic capabilities exhibit three main characteristics; firstly dynamic capabilities include certain value creating strategic processes which c an be influenced to create new strategies to win in the dynamic market. Second observation is that dynamic capabilities are the best practices in an industry supported by extensive empirical resources hence they are homogeneous in nature which is opposite of the RBVs assumptions. Third observation is that dynamic capabilities demonstrates different patterns in different market conditions, they are complicated and analytical in stable market conditions because the knowledge is established and detail analysis is required for getting new insights and in dynamic market conditions they are simple processes relying on quick execution as the knowledge is limited about specific situations and experiments needs to be done on a more frequent basis to keep the firm ahead of the competition. Eisenhardt and Martin (2000) states that dynamic capabilities are necessary to continuously reconfigure resources and the competitive advantage is achieved by newly configured resources. Dynamic capabilitie s are means to achieve the competitive advantage; they are not competitive advantage in themselves. A firms ability alliance, developing new products and strategic decision making are some of the examples of dynamic capabilities (Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000). 2.3.2 Strategy Formulation using Strategy Diamond Hambrick and Fredrickson (2001) states that there are various tools available to analyze internal and external environment but there is no guidance what the output of these analysis should be and how to formulate a strategy. Strategy should highlight how the company will achieve its goals by integrating internal and external analysis. A strategy diamond model is proposed by Hambrick and Fredrickson (2001) to help formulate a coherent strategy which contains five elements namely arena, vehicles, differentiators, staging and economic logic. The diamond is shown below. D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintDiamond.png Arenas is the first element of the strategy diamond which demands strategist to answer fundamental question about what are the areas the business will be focusing its attention and the amount of efforts put in these areas. Managers need to clearly define which products, channels, market segments and geographic location will be targeted. Vehicles are the means to enter the arenas chosen. Deciding appropriate vehicles is of strategic importance. A firm can decide to develop organically, may decide to form a joint venture or may acquire the business of existing player in the targeted arena. A firm can use one or combination of these different vehicles to penetrate arenas. Each vehicle has its positive and negative implications depending upon the market dynamics and manager should give due considerations to these implications. After deciding arenas and vehicles strategist should answer the question as how the company will win the customers in targeted markets. Knowing why customers chose the firm over its competitors can help strategist to identify differentiators. Differentiators can be company image, its ability to customize products, price and location advantage, quality and reliability of the service provided. Hambrick and Fredrickson (2001) state that to achieve a competitive advantage a firm does not need to have very special in one of the above mentioned dimension but having a combination of these dimensions which are mutually reinforcing can give the firm a strong position in the market. Creating differentiators is very important task top management should because without them a firm may lose its market position soon. Staging is the forth stage towards forming a good strategy and asks mangers to sequence the actions decided in the first three elements. Staging process depends on many factors such as resources required carrying out the task, sometimes business need to respond quickly to grab opportunities available, in such situations urgency in taking actio ns is critical, achieving credibility is very important for attracting resources and stakeholders and lastly wining early in the strategy implementation phase is important. All the above mentioned factors needs to be given due consideration. Finally managers should look at the economic logic before finalizing any strategy; the business should be able to achieve profit above its cost of capital. Hambrick and Fredrickson (2001) states that, the most successful strategies have a central economic logic that serves as the fulcrum for profit creation. Hambrick and Fredrickson (2001) emphasis that together with strategic analysis and addressing the five elements of the strategic diamond a firm can develop a sound strategy for achieving the competitive advantage. 2.4. Market segmentation and attractiveness Segmenting the market to identify the needs of the customer groups and accessing attractiveness is very important to develop a growth plan. Kotler (1993, p.263) defines Market segmentation is the act of dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers who might require separate products and/or marketing mix. Smith (1956) suggests that segmentation help companies to align product offering to different customer needs. Dibb (1995) suggested a matrix to help firms to identify which market segments to target, the matrix is called Segment Evaluation Matrix (SEM) which consist three step approach as defining segments, targeting and positioning. In the first stage, defining segments, many authors (Haley, 1968; McDonald and Goldman, 1979; Johnson and Flodhammer, 1980; Brow, Shivashankar and Brucker, 1989) have suggested a need for appropriate base. Segmentation of customers should be done considering homogeneous needs of the group by a suitable base. Targeting involves focusing resources on i dentified segments; this is achieved by considering market conditions, competition, availability of firms resources and customer needs. Positioning is the final stage which asks to develop marketing plans keeping 4Ps (product, price, promotion and place) in mind to attract the targeted customers. Porter (1996) proposes three types of positioning choices for a firm, first is variety- based positioning which focuses on products or services offered by the firm rather than segmenting customers, this is suitable for firms able to produce products or services using distinguishing sets of activities. Second type is need- based positioning which require grouping customers on the basis of needs. This is particularly suitable when each identified group has differing needs like different products, service level and supported needed. Third type is access based positioning which focuses on different modes to reach customers having similar needs like other customers. Geographic location or customer scales are two examples which require different set of activities to reach the customers. Wind and Cardoza (1974) observed that many companies formulate segments based on intuition, Doyle et. al (1986) supports above finding by stating that key decision makers misunderstand importance of segmentation process. Kotler (1991) offers guidelines for segmentation by stating that they should be measurable, substantial, accessible and accountable. Halvacek and Reddy (1986) have developed a three step market segmentation model consisting of identification, qualification and attractiveness which is the basis for Dibbs (1995) Segment Evaluation Matrix (SEM). Hlavacek and Reddy (1986) suggests guidelines for segment qualification which highlights segmentation based on common needs and measurable characteristics, identifying the competition, similar distribution channel for each segment and defined communication channel for each segment. Study conducted by Abratt ( 1993) identified segment attractiveness criteria as Ability to reach buyers in market Competitive position in market Size of market Compatibility of market with objectives/ resources; and Expected market growth ( Dibb, 1995) Dibb (1999) categories segment attractiveness in four major categories as market factors, economic and technical factors, competitive factors and environmental factors which are as shown below in the diagram. segment attractivness 1 Dibb (1995) suggests that for developing a marketing strategy analysis can be done on the basis of different markets, segments in the same market which can give lot of insights. Market segmentation encourage firms to do competitor and customer resulting into more focused approach in terms of offering products or services and improved responsiveness. As suggested by Dibb (1995) a matrix can be used to summarize the findings of the analysis as shown in the diagram. segment attractivness The matrix approach gives a holistic view of the portfolio of all segments and helps companies prioritize actions and develop strategy accordingly for each segment. 2.5 Growth Strategies for Wholesale Distribution Ansoff (1957) suggested a tool to help companies decide their product and market growth strategies. The matrix suggests four growth strategies as shown in the diagram below. D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintAnsoff.JPG For existing products Ansoff (1957) suggest market penetration and market development strategies. For new products product development and diversification strategy is suggested. Lawson software in 2007 conducted a survey of 1274 wholesale distributors operating in three regions North America, Europe and Australia and New Zealand to find out what strategies and tactics wholesale distributors in these regions will adopt to achieve targeted growth and find out similarities and differences in the strategic choices in different regions. The participants were picked from different industries such as industrial spare parts, consumer goods, building material and food service. 70% of the participant view existing customers as the main source of growth. Following diagram shows results for three regions. D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintlawson 1 current customers.png 2.5.1 Selling more to existing customers In Europe executives of food service distribution think that 41 % of the sales from current customer will come from selling existing products more, 46% sales would result from selling new products and offering fee based value adding services will improve 12% sales. The following diagram shows results from different industries in Europe and North America. Europe is more optimistic about charging customers for offering value adding services. D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintcurrent customers.png 2.5.2. Adding New Customers The survey found that majority of the distributors are focusing on current geographic locations to identify new customers, 78% foodservice distributors are focusing on new customers in the current geographic locations, only 22% sales expected from customers in new geographic locations . D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintNEW CUSTOMERS.png Targeting new customers in current geographic areas is challenging because they already have preferred suppliers and to win these customers distributors need to offer better service and performance. A good sales management is needed to avoid winning new customers with low gross margins than current customers. 2.5.3. Organic or Growth by Acquisition The survey tried to find growth strategies adopted by distributors. More than sixty percent respondent considers organic growth as the means to improve current operations. Sixteen percent in Europe consider acquisition as a growth strategy. The diagram below shows results of the three regions. D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintgrowth strategy.png All the above findings suggest that wholesale distributors are focusing market penetration and market development strategies as explained by Ansoffs growthmatrix. 2.6 Export Market Expansion Strategies When small and medium sized firms want to go in international market , exporting is the most popular route adopted to enter, penetrate and develop foreign market because it is less risky and impact on domestic operational resources are limited ( Katsikea et.al., 2005). Firms willingness and propensity and its actual capacity are the two main factors which determine a firms decision to initiate and maintain exporting determination. According to Cavusgil and Zou (1994) when a firm decides to engage in export activity the most critical decision they need to take is about market expansion strategy. The strategy includes identification, analyzing and selecting export markets and deciding number of markets to target. Lages and Montgomery (2004) conducted a survey of 400 export managers and found that export performance of a firm depends on firm commitment and the way strategy is formed. Designing an export strategy for a firm has attracted many researchers, contributing conceptually and empirically. Ayal and Zif (1979) and Lee and Yang (1990) suggested that export market expansion is considered as a firms strategic decision to expand export business by allocating firms marketing resources to identified markets. According to Katsikeas and Leonidou (1996) exporting literature has identified two main marketing strategies as market concentration and market spreading. Katsikeas and Leonidou (1996) defines market concentration as the firms strategic focus on and allocation of export operations in certain carefully selected export markets and market spreading as exporting to as many markets as possible with no particular focus on specific export markets. The main difference between these two strategies lies in the speed of expansion in export markets. Ayal and Zif (1979) argues that in long term both strategies end up serving almost same number of export markets. Studies conducted by many authors (e.g. BETRO Trust Committee, 1976; Tessler, 1977, Fenwick and Amine, 1979) between 1975 and 1985 suggest market concentration strategy should be adopted because by focusing small number of markets a firm can achieve high market share resulting in long term profitability. Studies conducted by Hammermesh et.al (1978), Hirsch and Lev (1973) and Lee and Yang (1990) support market spreading strategy as it can exploit limited market share in many markets while reducing market related risk and gain higher profits .A contingency approach has been suggested by authors like Ayal and Zif (1979), Fenwick and Amine (1979) and Piercy (1982) which says that export strategy depends on company products, targeted markets and factors specific to the firm. Following table shows clear difference in two strategies as suggested by Katsikeas et.al. (2005). D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintconcentration vs spreading.png Katsikeas and Leonidou (1996) identified certain characteristics of the exporting organization such as experience of exporting help management to minimize the perceived uncertainty associated with overseas market and operation. Marketing efforts and policy variables which include developing market entry and customer selection criteria (Samiee and Walters 1990; Bourandas and Halikias 1991), visiting customers frequently, conducting research of export market, play crucial role in shaping behavior of the firm. A meta-analysis carried by Leonidou et. al. (2002) to identify marketing strategy elements of export performance found that market concentration strategy has a strong positive relation with export performance. The study further observed that export market performance is positively related to market segmentation, product quality, pricing strategy and advertising. However, Katsikeas et.al. (2005) conducted a research on 1000 British small and medium size exporting manufacturers and concluded that market spreading strategy results in long term profitability and the firm achieves valuable knowledge and skills to deal with different markets and develops a very strong sales team. Leonidou (2003) suggests that export business should be considered as overseas customer relationship management which is a process of establishing, developing and sustaining relations in export markets and this process should be monitored for its effective implementation. 2.7 Determining Distribution Location One of the most important strategic decisions is to identify the location of depot for supplying the products to customer on time every time. When entering into new geographic location a company needs to design its complete distribution network. Companies need to improve efficiency of their logistic operations to optimize the flow of goods supplied to customers. When deciding location of distribution system a company need to give due attention to the cost of distribution system and offering a very good service to customers (Perl and Daskin, 1985). These decisions depend on number, size and location of the depot and deciding customers to be served from each depot. In distribution centre (DC) location problem two cost needs attention, one is warehousing cost and the other is distribution cost and the companies always want to find optimum balance between these two to keep costs low. Warehouse cost are divided into fixed and variable cost whereas trunking and delivery cost form transport ation costs. Generally in distribution delivery cost is higher and hence lot of research is carried to develop tools to reduce these costs. In supply chain the problem related to DC are more closely related to vehicle routing problem (VRP), Location routing problem (LRP) and warehouse location routing problem (WLRP). The diagram below shows three components of delivery operation namely stem distance, variable running distance and stop time. D:Business Projectfrozen food eden farmliterature reviewpaintrouting componet.png The stem distance is the total distance between depot and first customer plus the distance between last customer and the depot. The stem distance is depends on the depot location. The variable running distance depends on the number of customers being served and determines the cost of delivery. Both stem and variable running distance depends on vehicle routing. Perl and Daskin (1985) define warehouse location routing problem as the problem of solving DC location and vehicle routing problem. When solving the problem one needs to give attention to various constraints like warehouse and vehicle capacity, route lengths and durations and satisfying all customer requirements. The problem is solved by finding a optimal route to deliver the goods to customers at minimum delivery cost. Each customer is allocated to only one depot. Burns et.al. (1985) considers customer density, demand, value of items, inventory carrying cost and transportation cost per mile to solve the problem. They suggest designing optimal delivery regions to reduce the cost of delivery and then locate the depot. Bednar and Strogmeier (1979) , Nambiar et. al.(1981) and Barreto et.al.(2007) suggest to cluster customers together according to vehicle capacity and maximum distance constraint. Then locate the depot at a location from where all clusters can be served.

Binary Phase Shift Keying BPSK Modulation Demodulation Computer Science Essay

Binary Phase Shift Keying BPSK Modulation Demodulation Computer Science Essay This experiment is based on the Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) modulation/demodulation technique. The aim of the experiment is to gain familiarity with the components of a simple data transmission system, gain experience using an experimental communication system and studying its performance under the influence of white noise and also, to compare experimental results with theoretical deductions. Bandpass modulation, of which BPSK is a type, is a process whereby, a sinusoid usually called a carrier wave, is modulated or have its characteristics changed by a digital pulse baseband signal in other to enable wireless based transmission. In BPSK modulation, the phase of the carrier waveform is shifted to either 0Â ° or 180Â ° by the modulating data signal. To effectively model the transmission channel, the AWGN generator is used which adds the effect of noise to the signal at the receiver in other to properly characterise what obtains in real systems. SNR measurements are taken after the noise is added before the receiver and results of each stage of the experiment are presented. 2.0 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The results obtained from the experiment and brief discussions are now presented. 2.1 The frequency of the waveform was measured to be 1.493kHz 2.2 The amplitude of the waveform was measured to be 3.608V 2.3 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGADesktopLAB RESULTSPart 2.bmp Fig. 1: Square Waveform from NE555 timer circuit. The timer circuit produces a sequence of ones and zeros which together with the resistors and capacitor, produces a square waveform. It can be observed that the square top and bottom are not perfectly straight but with ripples, this is due to the resonance effect presented by the capacitor. Also, the rising pattern of the top is due to the voltage rise time in the capacitor. 2.4 The frequency of the message sequence is measured to be 374Hz 2.5 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 4 5.bmp Fig. 2: Message sequence at the output of the frequency divider. The SN74LS74 integrated circuit implements a second order frequency divider, 2n (n=2). Hence the frequency of the timer circuit is divided by four. Hence, this is also evident in the frequency of the message sequence in 2.4 above. 2.6 The cut-off frequency of the 2nd order Butterworth low pass filter is given by; The cut-off frequency is the frequency at which the magnitude of the transfer function drops to 0.7071 of its maximum value which represents the point at which the power in the circuit is 3dB less than the maximum value. 2.7 The frequency of the sinusoid at the output of the filter was measured to be 1.328kHz. 2.8 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.Wordpart 8.jpg Fig. 3: Output of the first and second Butterworth LPF. A B A Output of first filter; B Output of second filter The Butterworth lowpass filter is used to generate the sinusoidal carrier required for the baseband signal. The Butterworth filter has a gentle roll-off, has no ripple in the pass or stop band hence, it has a monotonic response. To maximise the smoothness of the sinusoid, we use two of such filters in series. 2.9 The RC highpass filter is used to remove the DC components of the sinusoid (since it will only allow frequencies from the cut off frequency upwards) and convert it into a non-return to zero one. The cut-off frequency is given by: 2.10 The frequency of the modulated signal was measured to be 1.408kHz. 2.11 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 11.bmp Fig. 4: Output of the RC filter and the inverting amplifier circuits. A B A RC filter output B Inverting amplifier output The outputs of the RC filter and the inverting amplifier differ by a phase shift of 180Â °, to fulfil the requirement for BPSK where we need antipodal modulated signals. Since the gain of the inverting amplifier is unity, there is no change to the amplitude of the inverted carrier. 2.12 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 10 12.bmp Fig. 5: BPSK signal at the output of the adder circuit. A The analogue switch produces a 0Â ° shifted sinusoid when the message signal is high (a 1) and a 180Â ° shifted sinusoid when the message signal is low (a 0). The two outputs streams are combined in the adder circuit which has a gain of unity so that no modification is made to the signal amplitude. The result of this is a stream of 1s and 0s represented by the sinusoidal waveform in fig. 5 above. Point A depicts the sudden phase change as the bits changes to connote a transition from a high to a low and vice-versa. If we begin with a 1, then the fig. 4 would represent 10101010. 2.13 The bandwidth of the noise signal is 500kHz. 2.14 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 14.jpg Fig. 6: BPSK signal with white noise. The AWGN channel helps to simulate what can typically obtain in real communication environments and it was observed that in real systems, the signal is not really as elegant as presented in fig. 5 but the addition of noise means the receiver will require some form of intelligence and signal processing in other to correctly detect the transmitted message. 2.15C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 15.jpg Fig. 7: BPSK noisy signal at output of RC lowpass filter. The cut-off frequency of this filter is given by; hence it will cut off signals above 15.92kHz. It was observed that after the application of this filter, the noise level was significantly reduced as evident comparing fig. 6 and 7, since the noise contained a large amount of frequency components higher than 15.92kHz due to its bandwidth of 500kHz. 2.16 The signal at the output of the integrator takes the shape of a sawtooth waveform. This is because integrating a square waveform produces a sawtooth waveform. 2.17 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 16 17.bmp Fig. 8: Output of the integrator circuit. A B The multiplier and integrator circuit represents a matched filter implementation at the receiver. Point A represents the zero point i.e the beginning of a new symbol or bit in this case, when the integrator is re-set. As such, when a 1 changes to a 0, we have a re-set to zero point and the direction of the triangular shape changes to the opposite. Point B is the integration phase proper. It is not smooth due to the effect of noise in the system. Also, the rise is a direct result of the capacitor charging. 2.18 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 18.jpg Fig. 9: Pulse application to integrator. A B A Integrator output; B Reset Pulse As displayed on fig. 8 above, the reset pulse is applied to the integrator at the symbol transition instant which is seen to be the beginning of every half cycle to reset the integrator to zero. 2.19 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 19a.png Fig. 10: The Reference Signal C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.Word19b.jpg Fig. 11: The Sampling Pulse C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 19c.jpg Fig. 12: The Reset Pulse The reference signal is obtained from the SN74LS74 frequency divider of the transmitter thus it is the originally transmitted message sequence. The sampling and reset instances are done at the same time that is at the half cycle. 2.20 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 20.jpg Fig. 13: Output of the Comparator. This is where the original baseband signal is regenerated. From fig. 8, when the output of the integrator is positive, an output voltage of 5 volts is produced at the comparator and when the integrator output is negative, a 0 volt output is obtained. This resulted in fig. 13 above showing the alternating 5 and 0 volts or 1s and 0s which depicts our detected signal. The frequency of the detected signal is 1.419kHz. 2.21 The length of the delayed version of the data symbol produced at the receiver is 1.804ms 2.22 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 21 and 22 Greeen channel 2 yellow channel 1.bmp Fig. 14: The Delayed pulse and Original data signal. A B A- Delayed Pulse; B Original Pulse Comparing the original data signal against the delayed version, it is observed that though they are of the same period, B has longer duration positive half cycle while A compensates with a longer negative half cycle. Also, the time delay between them is about a half cycle. 2.23 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 23 yellow delay green comparator.bmp Fig. 15: Input Signals to the XOR circuit. A B A Delayed original signal; B Detected signal The detected signal B is compared against the delayed version of the original signal A, because B generally, B would have experienced some delay and hence to effectively ascertain if an error occurred, its best to compare it against a delayed original as represented by A. The exclusivity of the circuit lies in the fact that when A B are the same, a 0 will be produced while when they are different denoting an error, a 1 will be produced. 2.24 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 24 green 2 yellow 1.jpgFig. 16: Input Signals to the first NAND gate. A B A Sampling Pulse; B XOR Output A NAND gate will only produce a zero when both inputs are high. Hence a zero is obtained when the sampling instant coincides with a high output from the XOR circuit. 2.25 C:Documents and SettingsAGEBNIGALocal SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.WordPart 25 yellow chn1 5v dc green chn2 1st input.png Fig. 17: Input Signals to the second NAND gate. A B C A Input 5Vdc; B Output of first NAND gate; C Zero point Since a NAND gate will produce a high when both inputs are not the same and when they are both 0, a 5V dc (always high or 1) is applied to one of the inputs and the output of the first NAND gate to the other. Hence, at the points where B comes down to zero (C), the output of the NAND gate will record a high which implies an error has occurred. 2.26 To estimate the BER; Where Vs (rms value of signal amplitude) =514mV, Vn (rms value of noise amplitude) = 0-10dB W (AWGN channel bandwidth) = 500kHz T (modulated Signal period) = 656.25ÃŽÂ ¼s SNR received signal to noise ratio BER bit error rate or error probability. Table 1 below presents the values. Table 1: Summary of Results Fig. 18: BER Performance Plot 3.0 CONCLUSION The BER performance plot of fig. 18 shows that the behaviour of the experimental system is within the bounds of predicted theoretical results. For instance, as quoted in the lecture notes, at SNR= 10.4dB, the BER is about 1.510-6. From fig.18 above, a similar point, of SNR=10.3806dB gives a BER of 1.48810-6. Hence confirming the accuracy of the results obtained from the experiment. The plot confirms that as the signal-to-noise ratio increases, the error probability reduces in line with conventional knowledge. In addition, the process of using a baseband signal to modulate the phase of a sinusoid was observed, converting it into a bandpass signal for transmission ease. Also, the use of Additive White Gaussian Noise to simulate the channel provides an insight into what might be expected in a live system environment, under varying degrees of noise exposure. Finally, because the received data sequence will most likely be displaced from its true positions as demonstrated experimentally, the use of a time delayed version of the original transmitted sequence to compare and check for errors was justified.

Flight in Toni Morissons Song of Solomon Essay -- Song Solomon essays

Flight in Toni Morisson's Song of Solomon I do not have the fondest memories of moving to this area. Of everyone in my family, I was the only one who did not want to move. I had no choice, however, so I had to live with it. Seeing how depressed I was, my parents decided to do something special for my birthday. Ever since I was little I had always dreamed of flying, so when we were in Crawford looking for property, my parents arranged for someone to take me up. The day was cold, cloudy and dreary, but the realization that I was actually going to fly made up for it. Flight has always infatuated me. Maybe it is the weightlessness of birds that does it, but flight has always been more than just a type of transportation to me. It was a gift I did not have. For this reason, I was able to connect with the novel Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison. In the novel Song of Solomon, the theme of flying is developed by a dynamic song for which the book is named. The "Song of Solomon" helps develop the theme of flying by introducing it in the opening scene, by showing what flight means to the main character Milkman, as well as, through its constant changing, showing the true meaning of the novel. The activity in the opening scene can be rather confusing, however, there is one action that ties it all together. One character, which will eventually be known as Pilate, begins singing as soon as she sees Mr. Smith, an insurance agent, preparing himself to 'fly', or commit suicide. The fact that she is singing really has no effect, but the song she sings does. She begins singing, "O Sugarman done fly away/ Sugarman done gone/ Sugarman cut across the sky/ Sugar man gone home...." (p 6) This song describes Mr. Smith, who is wearing blue silk wi... ...ansportation, or a form of recreation. It was a way to get away from your insecurities, the pressures of life. It was being able to have your own life in your hands. As Milkman faces death by someone else's hands, he uses that gift. By taking his own life he shows that 'flying' is what keeps us free of chains, burdens and social pressures, and lets us choose what is right for us. Music is a wonderful attribute to the arts, and in the case of Toni Morrison's novel Song of Solomon, it is what ties the theme of flight together. Whether it is allowing the introduction of the theme, showing the feelings of a character or leading the reader to find the meaning of the novel, it is indisputable that the "Song of Solomon," a song of flight, ties the theme and essentially the novel together. Works Cited: Morisson, Toni. "Song of Solomon." Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. 1977.

Themes Discussed in Joyce Oates Where Are You Going , Where Have You B

Where Are You Going , Where Have You Been by Joyce Oates It is well known that the most awkward and difficult time in one’s life is adolescence. One is faced with the challenges of discovering who one is and what one wants out of life. One finds themselves frustrated and confused in this particular stage. They are mid way between a bridge. They have left childhood but have not yet reached adulthood. They struggle to find some sense of being and individuality in the world. They are on a quest to find themselves, and in search of a path that will lead them to future happiness. â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,† is a short story written by Joyce Oates .In her short story Oates shows how easily susceptible one is in this stage of life. Oates shows in her story how the quest of finding one’s self, gives one a false sense of knowledge. It is this false sense of knowledge and the search for self and identity that produces the tragic outcome of the character within Oates’ story. The setting of â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where have You Been,† takes place in the late 60’s early 70’s. This is evident by the reference to Bobby King and the XYZ Sunday programming station which was mentioned within the story (p.122). The 1960s and early 1970s marked the era of the women's movement. Economic shifts meant that more women worked outside the home, and Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment, resulting in many political battles during the long ratification process. In 1973 the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that a woman's right to privacy allowed for legal abortion. Woman know began to have voices. The world was drastically changing and it is within this drastically changing world that Oates introduces four main characters... ...ave You Been,† As nothing more then a dream. However others view it as, â€Å"feminist allegory which suggests that young women of today, like the generations that have come before them, are headed into sexual bondage†. (Korb). There is no evidence to suggest that Connie is experiencing a dream. However there is evidence that suggest that Connie had an untimely death. â€Å"watching this body and this head of long hair moving out into the sunlight where Arnold Friend waited.†(p.135) Oates depicts in her story the important of self identity. Arnold Friend is not a symbolic representation of the â€Å"devil† as some critics believe him to be. Arnold Friend character is an representation of the challenges and test one faces in ones every day life. It is conquering these challenges and test , that instills in us knowledge, knowledge which brings us one step closer to finding ourselves.

The Simpsons: an Imperfect Ideal Family

The Simpsons: An Imperfect Ideal Family The essay The Simpsons: An Imperfect Ideal Family was a paper written by Eliezer Van Allen explaining how the popular T. V show The Simpsons was not so unrealistic and impractical as many Americans had thought it to be. In fact, The Simpsons was, more or less, a â€Å"â€Å"cracked-mirror version† of our own imperfect but lovable selves† just in a cartoon, sitcom type form.This essay talks about how The Simpsons family often reflects the way many current families live and how, although many individual characteristics in a family member may not always be the best, as a whole a family will often come together and help one another constructing a strong family bond. Although Van Allen over exaggerates the obstacles of the everyday life, he refers to The Simpsons as a â€Å"nuclear† resemblance of the typical 20th century family.Throughout the essay, Van Allen often uses many literary techniques/ rhetorical devices to help the r eader understand the effectiveness of the piece. Humour is used when Van Allen makes a personal connection to the fact that at the beginning of each Simpsons episode, the Simpsons family all run to the couch and sit in their â€Å"specific† spot, just like his own. He refers to this as a â€Å"mirror image of my couch-dwelling family†.Having this humour presented in the essay allows for the reader to stay attentive and wanting to read more, as humour often keeps the reader interested. This often allows for the reader to have more of a connection with the author and to get more of a feel of what the authors thinking process is. Allegory is present throughout the essay as Bert and Lisa’s everyday behaviour allegorically teaches the lessons of the average American. For instance, in â€Å"Bart Sells His Soul† love and concern is shown by Lisa’s actions as she cares for him and always has his back.This contributes to the effectiveness of the piece becau se although many family members (individually) may not always be the best and act to their morals, as a family, everyone works together and helps each other’s weaknesses become strengths and will grow off the strengthens of one another, creating a family, as outlined by Richard Corliss, â€Å"they stick together with one another through thick and thin†. As a reader, this is thought to give the essay â€Å"personality† and with that comes good T.V reviews as viewers become attached and are able to relate to their own family/ real life scenarios. Periodic sentence is present when Van Allen refers to Matt Groening, The Simpsons creator, when he states â€Å"I knew that other kids were going to get serious and go on and be professional†¦ I never wanted to go to an office and carry a briefcase†, as it is only clear at the end of the sentence what Groening meant by that. He knew that â€Å"carrying a briefcase† wasn’t for him so he created a new way to express his talents and his passions.This contributes to the effectiveness of the piece because it forces the reader to keep reading to find out what the author was trying to say, and without doing so the main point of what the author is trying to get across is confusing and may often be misunderstood. Throughout the essay many literary terms/ rhetorical devices are present; these are just a few of many that really stuck out to me. Before reading Van Allen’s paper, I had never thought of The Simpsons in the way he had portrayed it, or the way Groening explained the story behind it.It wasn’t until fully reading and understanding Van Allen’s essay that I started to click into the logic behind the mirror image ideology that The Simpsons family portrayed of the typical 20th century American family. I felt that throughout the essay Van Allen supported his point of how The Simpsons portrayed the average 20th century family very well. He made a lot of person al connections that both any reader and I could easily relate too. For example, he talked about how The Simpsons was â€Å"that† T.V show for him and his family that they felt was the mirror-image of their family life. How they all ran to the T. V to watch The Simpsons episode that was coming on next, just how The Simpsons family does at the beginning of each episode. He also talked about how now a days, individual family members don’t always act appropriate and may have some horrible individual traits, from Bart’s rebelliousness, to Homer’s stupidity and foolishness, but as a group and family together they make the best come out in each other.No family has perfect kids or perfect parents but it’s the love and care that one another share, that matters most. This is taught throughout Van Allen’s essay about The Simpsons family in comparison to the average family now a day. To me, family means to always be there for another and always have eac h others back. Unlike friends, you can’t choose your family. You know that as much as they might get on your nerves sometimes, you must look past that, and find the good in what you are blessed with.While reading Van Allen’s essay I felt that I could relate to a lot of what he was saying and found it very easy to understand what he was trying to get across, which kept me wanting to read more. I strongly agree with Van Allen’s point on how The Simpsons is a character formatted sitcom version of the typical 20th century family. Overall, reading this essay has made me think about how much more relatable and relevant some of shows on T. V actually are. Every time I turn on the T.V and go to watch a sitcom type show especially, it makes me think about any possible story line or lesson that may be hidden behind the show that may benefit me in any way. Van Allen’s essay has made me truly appreciate the hard work and effort gone into such a show, as The Simpsons would have been the last show I would have thought to have a message behind it. All in all, Van Allen`s essay has given T. V shows a whole new outcome, as in how they are looked upon and I am more understanding of the meanings behind the â€Å"hidden messages† in our simple day to day shows.

Reflection on Teaching Essay

In order to challenge my theory of teaching I first need very briefly to define it. When I was taught science it was mostly through direct teaching. Any experiments performed were deductive in nature with very little input from me. When I got to college and I started performing experiments then I suddenly started having little epiphanies where facts I had learned off by heart were unexpectedly connected in ways I hadn’t understood before. So I came to think that this was what was lacking at secondary level, the experimental experience that allowed people to physically test the ‘how’ of the world around them. To put it simply people are innately curious and that exploiting this curiosity is the way to teach. From the moment they learn to talk, children constantly ask questions about everything, from â€Å"where eyebrows come from?† to â€Å"what do worms eat?† Asking questions is the way they find things out and this really is just one small step away from learning. From personal experience of teaching I think that Arnstine (1967) was correct when he said â€Å"the arousal of curiosity can lead to learning†¦for learning to occur, curiosity must be guided†. Designing lessons in such a way as to tap into the natural curiosity of students and to connect the topics on the curriculum with their everyday experiences is surely the best way to teach science. I find enquiry / constructivism extremely interesting as it encapsulates the whole get their attention approach but I think it’s misused by an awful lot of people. I think that analogies and real world examples need to be reflective of the scientific concept yet simple enough that the student can grasp it. Also it requires that the student be actively involved, activities must provide the opportunity to demonstrate learning.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"To instruct someone†¦ is not a matter of getting him to commit results to mind. Rather, it is to teach him to participate in the process that m akes possible the establishment of knowledge. We teach a subject not to produce little living libraries on that subject, but rather to get a student to think mathematically for himself, to consider matters as an historian does, to take part in the process of knowledge-getting. Knowing is a process not a product.† (Bruner. J, The Process of Education: Towards a theory of instruction 1966: 72) So in approaching this assignment I realise that I am an ardent supporter of teaching through enquiry. I agree with Bruners theoretical framework of building on pre-existing knowledge by presenting new material in a logical manner at a level the student can understand, revisiting topic in stages and building layers of ever increasing complexity. I find the concept of a spiral curriculum to be a sensible one, but also to be at odds with the way in which individual schools plan the teaching of science. There is far too much relience on the text book, with strict adherence to the material inside. I prefer to leave the text book at home, for the student to be assigned reading and questions from it for homework so that it is new and different and provides a slightly different aspect to the same topic. At the very least it will provide the same information as was covered in class in a slightly different manner and provoke recall instead of boredom. A consequence of supporting enquiry is an aversion to direct teaching. Those who support direct teaching say that it is a highly effective method of teaching. The basic components are careful content analysis, sequencing of information and use of appropriate examples, specific instructional formats where both teacher and student responses are scripted and testing to mastery. The part that receives the most criticism is the scripted responses. Here is an example I found at Brainsarefun.com http://brainsarefun.com/Teachtk.html EXAMPLE 1. All: Teacher and students touch the answer to be learned. 2. Teacher: â€Å"The answer to this question is, 1492.† 3. Teacher: â€Å"When I signal I want you to answer, 1492.† 4. Teacher: â€Å"The answer is 1492.† 5. Teacher: â€Å"What year did Columbus discover America?† 6. Teacher: â€Å"Get ready.† Watch the students to make sure all participate. 7. Teacher: Signal by pointing or snapping fingers. 8. All: â€Å"1492.† 9. Teacher: â€Å"That’s right, Columbus discovered America in 1492.† 10. Teacher: Reward. â€Å"Good job saying 1492.† Make eye contact with individuals. Smile. 11. Teacher: Next answer, or repeat until everyone is participating and firm. If any student is unable to participate or answer correctly, start at the top of the sequence again. Most teachers believe that this type of teaching is too restrictive and prevents the students from developing critical thinking skills. I have to say that on my first reading of this example of direct teaching I was horrified at the way the students were indoctrinated. I knew that this method of teaching was not for me and I continued to develop my lesson plans along the constructivist enquiry model. I researched guided discovery and found that discovery learning is described as an inquiry-based, constructivist learning theory that occurs in situations where the learner draws on their existing knowledge to discover facts and comprehend relationships. Students interact with the world by manipulating objects, wrestling with questions or performing experiments. As a result, students are more likely to remember concepts and knowledge discovered on their own (in contrast to a transmission / direct teaching model). Proponents of discovery learning say it has many advantages, including encouraging active engagement, promoting motivation, autonomy, responsibility, independence, aiding the development of creativity and problem solving skills and is a tailored learning experience that helps minimize classroom management problems. Detractors point out the amount of time needed to teach a topic and that students do not always achieve the intended outcome of the lesson. That is they may draw erroneous conclusions about the investigation they are engaged in. My action research Now that I have explored my theories on teaching I need to test those theories by comparing the outcomes of direct versus enquiry teaching. Ideally in order to compare the two methods I should keep the conditions of the lessons the same and only change the method of instruction. Rigor would  dictate that I teach two groups of students that have been randomly segregated. The students would be in the same year of secondary school and assumed to be at the same academic level. Ability within each group would be expected to mimic normal distribution with some students excelling and some struggling with the curriculum content. Unfortunately in my teaching practice placement I have one class of first years and one class of second years. I am also following a subject plan laid down by the science department in the placement school, which further restricts my research topic. Hence rather than directly compare and contrast two sets of lesson plans that differ in instruction but not content, I shall attempt to make my methods of instruction the subject of the action research. My intention is to design a number of lesson plans along the guidelines of both approaches and to deliver these lessons as independent of personal bias as possible. I shall assess the success of each lesson plan as a measure of student value and under a number of points such as participation, motivation to learn, interest of students, as well as proficiency in summative tests. Bearing in mind my own learning, I will also be critically examining something about my ability to deliver a constructivist lesson; do I do as I say? In assessing participation of students I will make reference to number, frequency and relevance of questions asked. Time spent on-task will be used to measure motivation and interest as will content of questions asked. In line with standard research methods I established a baseline of knowledge on the topic of energy by giving the students a questionnaire which was designed to probe existing conceptions. (more here on the results of the questionnaire) From my understanding of enquiry teaching there seems to be a number of activities that should feature in my lesson plans and I have tried to incorporate these in the enquiry based lesson plans. I have included a list of these activities here and have also identified them in the appropriate lesson plans. Enquiry activities †¢ Think about scientifically orientated questions that are at an appropriate level and ask ‘how’ rather than ‘why’ (teacher provides questions at first) †¢ Gather and consider evidence using the tools of science †¢ Make explanations based on prior gain fact and ‘new’ knowledge gained through the process of enquiry / evidence gathering †¢ Compare  conclusions to currently scientific understanding and account for differences †¢ Communicate and negotiate their findings and explanations with others After the brainstorming session I jotted down as many of the words and phrases as I could during class. Light, wave, geothermal, heat, renewable, sun, plants, photosynthesis, comes from food, plants make it, atomic bombs, it keeps you moving, you are tired without it, it can change, there’s energy in batteries, joules, oil. Then I asked a series of questions designed to clarify facts that they needed to know (3A6 Energy, 3A7 Energy conversion: Junior Certificate Science Syllabus). From the answers it was clear to me that the students could not distinguish between forms of energy and sources of energy. Because the discussion section of the enquiry lesson plan is open-ended I was able to direct questions and highlight information on the board that students could use to ‘discover facts’. I tried to give minimum guidance but I found that the students were floundering and unsure of what they were trying to accomplish. This was a recurring theme during the discovery lesson plans and it seems to me from my readings that this is the main detracting feature of enquiry instruction. Those who oppose constructivist / enquiry instruction such as Kisherner, Sweller and Clark (2006) argue that minimum guidance during instruction does not work and Clark (1989) goes further to suggest that his data shows that ‘lower aptitude students’ show a loss of learning on post instructional testing. My Conclusion It is essential that the teacher do research work, i.e., he should comb the subject of chemistry from end to end for facts and for methods of exposition that will make such facts live and real to his students. (Patrick, W. A. (1924) What kind of research is essential to good teaching? J. Chemical Education, Volume 1, Issue 1, p16.) I have come to the conclusion that there is a need for direct teaching in the classroom in order to build up foundation of facts in long term memory to provide wellspring of knowledge which can be used to provide data when needed. Enquiry or discovery learning encourages the use of this knowledge so that students can put facts together to think critically. Dewey supported inductive teaching as the way to improve scientific teaching for a better educated society and said science lessons should include learning the process of science not just the facts, (Dewey, 1903). By this I believe he meant that the two methods complement each other and need to be used in tandem. But direct teaching cannot be taken as an excuse for unimaginative lessons recycled every year with minimal input from the teacher needed in the delivery. If investigatory activities are designed deductively, ie have only one conclusion, need more here about factors to consider when designing lesson activities.