Late assignments

Administrator for the course or Duty Receptionist, will incur late penalties from the mime the Administrator receives it. Assignments left on the Reception Counter, or slid under the door of the Reception office will also incur penalties from the time and date they are recovered. Note that there is no provision to accept assignments on weekends or public holidays. Penalties for Lateness In fairness to other students, work submitted after any deadline will incur a penalty for lateness.The penalty is 2 of the marks available (marks available meaner what the assignment is worth I. E. 20% or 20 marks) for an assignment submitted after the due time on the due date for each part day or day late. (for example if an assignment s out of 20 and the assignment receives 50% then one day late meaner the mark will be out of 18 and the student will receive 50% of 18). Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays will be included when counting the number of days late.Assignments will automatically fail th e Mandatory Course Requirements. Course Outlines provide a signal to students of forthcoming workload, dates of submission etc, and thus student study plans should take account of course requirements across all courses. Consequently, workload issues related to other courses and employment will not be accepted as reason for dispensation from mandatory requirements or waiver of penalties. Extensions to submission deadlines for any assigned work will only be granted in exceptional circumstances.Students who are unable to comply with any of the mandatory requirements should make a written application for an extension to the due date for submission of assigned work or for waiver of a penalty, in advance. All such applications must be made before the deadline and be accompanied by documentary evidence, egg a medical certificate, or counselor's report clearly stating the degree of impairment, and the dates the illness or event prevented you from undertaking your academic studies. This can be applied retrospectively. Iv) In the event of unusual or unforeseeable circumstances (e. G. Errors illness, family bereavement or other exceptional events), that precludes an application in advance, students should make contact with the Course Coordinator as soon as possible, and make application for waiver of a penalty as soon as practicable. V) Word limits should be adhered to, especially so when they provide a guide to limiting the student's coverage off topic. The penalty will be 10% of the grade for an assignment which is 10% over the word limit. Remarking Every attempt is made to ensure that the marking is consistent across tutors and fair to students. Students may ask for their written work to be remarked.A different tutor will do the remarking and provide comments. For marks: If the mark differs by 10% or less the two marks are averaged. If it exceeds 10% then it is independently marked by a third marker and the average of the two closest marks is taken. For grades: If the grade differs by one grade then the highest grade is taken. If the grade differs by more than one grade then the assignment is marked by a third marker and the average grade is taken. Experience from previous years is that almost all remarks are within 10% or one grade and where there is a change in mark or grade, half the assignments go up and half go down.Occasionally there is a significant shift in the mark or grade. Application for remarks must be made within 5 days after the assignments are available. To apply for a remark, complete the request for re- examination of assessed work form stating which sections (criteria listed in the mark sheet) you wish re-examined. Write on why you think the mark does not, in your view, fairly reflect the quality of your work. Hand this with your assignment into the allowing place: Pipette Campus – the Reception Desk on Level 10 Rutherford front cover by the person receiving it. Allow a minimum of 5 days for remarks to be completed.Use of Turning Student work provided for assessment in this course may be checked for academic integrity by the electronic search engine http://www. Turning. Com. Turning is an on- line plagiarism prevention tool which compares submitted work with a very large database of existing material. At the discretion of the Head of School, handwritten work may be copy-typed by the School and submitted to Turning. A copy of vomited materials will be retained on behalf of the University for detection of future plagiarism, but access to the full text of submissions will not be made available to any other party.Examinations Students who enroll in courses with examinations are obliged to attend an examination at the University at any time during the formal examination period. The final examination for this course will be scheduled at some time during the following period: Friday 25 October – Saturday 16 November (inclusive) Mandatory Course Requirements In addition to obtaining an overall cour se mark of 50 or better, students must submit al assignments within specified time period. If you cannot complete an assignment or sit a test or examination, refer to wry. Astoria . AC. NZ/home/study/exams-and-assessments/aggregate Class Representative

African Renaissance

Introduction l. African Renaissance: A Resurrection The theory of an African Renaissance has captured the interests of a number of intellectuals, reporters and politicians. In South Africa, where the concept has come to be closely identified with the political perceptions of former President Taboo Imbibe, it has been received as a proposal for â€Å"African political renewal and economic regeneration† (July, 2001 : 87). The concept can thus be viewed as a â€Å"rebirth†; a resurrection-since it has inspired policies to address the socio-economic fallouts of apartheid.The thought, Mallow (2001:1) contends, is a dominant trait in the â€Å"outlook f the African National Congress (NC)-led government†, and has been embraced as a â€Å"key component of its ideological outlook, especially as this pertains to international matters† (Mallow, 2001:1). The view is a significant theme in the organization's policy quest, and an exclusive ‘African Renaissance Fun d', Mallow (2001:2) confirms, was vested as part of this course. According to the Strategic Plan published by the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2004, the principles that underpin South Africans foreign policy include, commitments to the promotion of Human Rights and necromancy; to Justice and International Law in the conduct of relations between nations; to international peace and intentionally agreed-upon mechanisms for resolving conflict; to promoting the interests of Africa in world affairs; and to economic development through regional and international cooperation in an interdependent and globalizes world† (Nathan, 2005:366). II.Post-1994 NC-led government policies/actors In general, policy is expressed as a broad interpretation for â€Å"desired state of affairs† entailing â€Å"specific decisions† occasionally in a â€Å"rational sequence† (Nikkei, van deer Wald and Junker 2001:87). The author reasons that the term can be used in several ways, and involves â€Å"action as well as inaction† (Nikkei, van deer Wald and Junker 2001:87). An exceptionally good policy is a device that â€Å"makes organization easier† (University of Sydney, 2012), and permits the public to associate with the government's core principles more adequately.Nikkei, van deer Wald and Junker (2001:87) distinguish between three extensive classes of policy, namely â€Å"domestic, foreign and defense policies†. Nevertheless, the African Renaissance has been listed by several intellectuals, like Assiduously (2008: 110) as a â€Å"foreign-policy tragedy' (Assiduously, 2008: 110). The concept is a â€Å"South African emerging foreign policy doctrine† encompassing a â€Å"set of foreign policy goals and domestic styles, and politics entrenched in a set of political, social and economic relation† (BÃ'Ëœsheer and van Amerce 2005: 179).The Department of Foreign Affairs (2008), notes that South Africans policy initiatives should be modest and not overly ambitious. A reactive policy is inappropriate. The country policies-both domestic and international level- in essence map out to ensure â€Å"peace, democracy, respect for human rights and sustained development† (Department Of Foreign Affairs, 2008). A range of principal policy actors â€Å"exercise varying degrees of influence to shape the outcomes of these processes† (Raptor, 2004: 3).Among these actors are â€Å"formal state institutions such as the ruling party, opposition parties, the legislature, portfolio committees and individual members of provincial legislatures. There are also external, non-state policy actors and institutions such as organized interest groups, the media, independent consultants, non-governmental organizations and ordinary citizens† (Raptor, 2004:4). Examples include â€Å"the modern social movement, Anti- Appropriation Forum (APE); the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDEAS)† amongst the many.The se organizations, posits Ranchos (2007:5) have emerged as â€Å"very strong and vociferous organizations† who bid to shape and impact the state and its operations (Ranchos 2007:7) Integrating Post-Apartheid South Africa into the African Economy The report further comments that the NC-led political framework and â€Å"methods of formal engagement made for new opportunities and challenges† (Ranchos 2007:13). Bassoon (1991: 5) declares that â€Å"post-apartheid South Africa must be able to release more resources for reinvestment in the economy to revivalist it and for dealing with social problems† (Bassoon, 1991: 5).This challenge calls for â€Å"re-modeling† existing organizations to admit a â€Å"new' South Africa. Cooperation has been an essential tool in strengthening the newly -emerged economy, and efficient in â€Å"gradually and steadily leading to the integration of the economy with the harmonistic of currencies, financial systems, and infrastructu re† (Bassoon 1991: 9) The political process has deviated from a â€Å"regime of confrontation to a regime of negotiation†, asserts Bassoon (1991:12).In addressing the problems underlying the country political, social and economic spectrum, policy response required a unified participation in eradicating and transforming the then white-rule racist and undemocratic Constitution, and implementing an effective representative political governing structure (African National Congress, 2011) African Renaissance in Historical Perspective BÃ'Ëœsheer and van Amerce (2005: 162) consider that the African Renaissance perception has a rigid heritage that traces back in the History of the African continent.They describe events like the â€Å"rebellion of slaves in the ‘new world order' n the late eighteenth century' as interpreted by Manage (2001), and other comparable events, were the early basic â€Å"breeding grounds for pan-Africans†, a term that is largely supposed as an influential â€Å"predecessor of, and source of inspiration for African Renaissance. (Lundeberg ; Hellhole 1999; BÃ'Ëœsheer and van Amerce 2005: 162) BÃ'Ëœsheer and van Amerce (2005: 166) remarks that even though the pan-Africans objective shrunk quickly after being introduced, Julius Anywhere's image of a â€Å"United States of Africa† integrated by boundaries and united by a common language of prosperity, perished and has been kept awake by â€Å"many represents of Africans development† (BÃ'Ëœsheer and van Amerce (2005: 167) What started centuries ago in the form of â€Å"African uprisings† is â€Å"reflected in the present day struggle of the African continent to overcome hardships such as ‘unstable political systems'; ‘predatory elites'; a high ‘international debt burden' and unfavorable international trade regimes† (BÃ'Ëœsheer and van Amerce (2005: 171). The present-day use of the African Renaissance approach was pronounced for emost by former South African President, Taboo Imbibe, and is broadly understood as a ‘resurrection' of the African continent, as it stimulated Africans to seek â€Å"African lotions for African problems† BÃ'Ëœsheer and van Amerce (2005: 172). It focuses on concerns like â€Å"regional cooperation, the emancipation of disadvantaged groups, sustainable economic development and the deepening and sustenance of democracy' (BÃ'Ëœsheer and van Amerce (2005: 173). My African Experience, My African Renaissance What does the African Renaissance notion in its current state encompass?Components of the concept, Vale and Masses (1998: 272) suggest, are intentionally kept unclear, so as to â€Å"create space for embroiling people for championing the AR concept† (Vale and Masses 1998: 272), because it is utilized by a broad spectrum of actors, from â€Å"politicians and policy-makers, to businessmen and scholars† (Vale and Masses 1998: 273) – it is almost impossi ble for the term to lose its gist. Vale and Masses (1998: 273) observe that the â€Å"visionary language of the African Renaissance was understood by five suggested areas of engagement: the encouragement of cultural exchange; the 'emancipation of African woman from patriarchy; the manipulation of youth; the broadening, deepening and sustenance of democracy; and the initiation of sustainable economic development† (Vale and Masses 1998: 273; BÃ'Ëœsheer and van Amerce 2005: 179).Apart from unveiling the core themes of the theory, it is necessary to explore the scope of the concept in the contrasting views explored by Vale and Masses (1998: 278) in order to understand whether or not the development of the African Renaissance is really necessary for South Africa- both on domestic and foreign policy levels. The authors differentiate between two explicit views of South Africa in Africa: the â€Å"globalize interpretation†- which was â€Å"cast in the modernist tradition†, and embraces a modernist approach of globalization, with fair emphasis on appropriation, liberation's and the sort. The second approach- â€Å"Africans approach†- adopts the African Renaissance to â€Å"unlock a series of complex social constructions† embodied around African status.The former suggests a â€Å"continental effort by South Africans† to attain â€Å"sustained economic growth and wealth accumulation†, the latter calls for a â€Å"more post-structural interpretation† of global affairs (Vale and Masses 1998: 278) The essence of South Africans African policy- motivated by Ember's perception of Renaissance targets escalating South Africans strategic arrangements on the continent, which apart from establishing â€Å"good provenance† , also include â€Å"introducing new economic policies† that would ensure access to good education, adequate health care, decent houses, clean water and modern sanitation† (Taylor and Will iams, 2001 : 269) Despite much criticism on the concept for having a driven vision but being nothing more than a â€Å"wish list†, the African Renaissance perspective is significant and necessary for South Africans, because it is an efficient tool for the nations' ambitions towards a peaceful, equal and democratic state from the appalling former white-rule government characterized by oppression and injustice. The theory has been relevant in re-building South Africans social, political and economic set-up, and has played a significant role in re-shaping South Africans role and recognition in international affairs.For example the country capacity and success in hosting the 2010 FIFE World Cup Just a few years ago, and the possibility of being the first African country to hold permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (Taylor and Williams, 2001 : 269). It is the very same polices shaped by the AR theory behind the progress and political and socio-economic adjustments , noted by Mislabel (2011) to have purposed with â€Å"abolishing all forms of corruption and apartheid incompetence'. The post-1994 NC led government â€Å"adopted progressive policies that sought to ensure the economic advancement† of previously deprived social-classes and races. These policies comprise of â€Å"Transformation, BEE, employment equity, affirmative action, preferential procurement† (Mislabel, 2001).They are a monument of a â€Å"shining success of democracy'- as they have indeed promoted economic growth and human rights in the democratic South Africa. This, of course, is not to overlook the negative reality concerning dishonest practices that have gathered around policies like BEE. ‘I Am an African': Contradictions and Inconsistencies The African renaissance is an inclusive concept, developed for on principles of equality and democracy for a united African society, and seeks to promote the dreams and ambitions of the African citizen irrespectiv e of race, gender, ethnicity or religion. In â€Å"African Renaissance language†, and on the â€Å"Cosmopolitan and African image† projected in Ember's ‘l am an African' speech- who is an African?It is critical to explicitly spell-out what is meant by ‘African', to examine the extent of African contribution in IR (Smith, 2008) â€Å"l know that none dare challenge me when I say- I am an African! † Taboo Imbibe. Africa is a diverse continent and â€Å"South Africa is experiencing an African Renaissance built on its diverse and fascinating cultural heritage† (South African Tourism, 2011). Consequently, these people's â€Å"worldviews and insights will be equally diverse† (Ackermann). In a similar vein, â€Å"only if African insights are significantly different from the existing ‘R, will they make a worthwhile nutrition to the field† (Karen, 2008). An African to me is anybody and everybody who resembles the wealthy and ‘ colorful mosaic' spectrum that embraces the fabric' of the African society.He needs to pride himself in the African culture and history- and reflect the â€Å"spirit of reconciliation and mutual respect† that penetrates the African society, and aid to â€Å"re-enforce the country pride in its multi-ethnic roots† (South African Tourism, 2011). Color doesn't begin to own the rich concept- African. Simply put an African is an African. Undeniably, politics still runs across race nines in South Africa, but the common vision for a stable and democratic Africa, embodied in the African Renaissance policy can erase those lines, and assist in moving forward as a ‘trailside' state built on policies that are inclusive and rooted in achieving equal opportunity for all. The policies that emanate from the African Renaissance objectives, I. E.BEE- refuted to favor only the black population- were formulated to fix the problems of the past which deprived certain groups of people ( Mislabel 2001), and should be understood in not-so extremist meaner ‘exclusionary), because they were employed to ‘make right' -to correct the country past apartheid fallouts. We have different but not contrasting cultures, and all seek a common goal: political, social and economic success. The AR policy was designed upon similar vision and objectives, and no doubt can contribute towards the advancement of the everyday ordinary South African. Conclusion â€Å"To succeed, South Africans African Renaissance will draw together widely divergent ideas on what it is to be African in the eve of the 21st century' (Vale and Masses 1998: 280).This paper has dissected Ember's sentiment of an African Renaissance as n African ‘resurrection': South Africans policy for All Africans, All South Africans. It is up to every South African to realism the common platform of interests, and pursue a shared effort to ensure the profit of the African Renaissance policy, and translate its v ision in a Just and equal democratic society without excluding the ‘African'-which is anyone and everybody. Cooperation is fundamental. Racial quarrels and conflicts are a good recipe for failure. Holding anger, I have come to realism, is no different to holding a sneeze- sooner than later you're bound to get hurt.

This assignment considers physical activity in four different special population groups

This assignment considers physical activity in four different special population groups. Each population group is identified as being ‘special' because they have specific physiological and psychological needs that require physical activity to be modified and adapted to meet their special needs. The four different populations dealt within this assignment are Children, Over 50's, Pregnant Women and Disabled Persons. In this assignment, I will attempt to identify the techniques adapted specifically for each group and explain why it is beneficial for them. I will then proceed to compare and contrast the different techniques used between the four groups and explain why some techniques may be more suited for a particular group, and why some techniques may be inappropriate. CHILDREN: The first visit made was to a gymnasium course for children in between the ages of 2-4. (Ref. Appendix 1) Children are special because they grow at different rates and at different ages, â€Å".. there are also changes in body proportions that can put limitations on their ability to perform† (Lee, 1993 p. 51) Children need one to one care and special attention. Their bodies are still growing and developing so they have a limit to their capacity to perform certain activities. Their attention span is also short compared to an adult's so activities must be fun and capturing. The session I observed was a gymnastic lesson for children ages 2-4 that lasted for an hour. There were 6 students and two instructors. The fact that there was 1 instructor to 3 students shows how vulnerable children are and therefore must have special attention. As with every proper exercise session, they started with a good fifteen minutes of warm up. This ensured that all muscles were stretched and warmed up, ready for activity. The warm up exercises were very fun and exciting, which guaranteed the participation and inclusion of all children. The warm up exercises were very imaginative and creative and to name a few examples: walking on tiptoes with arms outstretched, frog leaping, hopping, star jumps and side skips. The stretches started from the top of the head moving down the body, such as neck stretches, shoulder rotation, roll and shake, hip swing and rotation, bottom wiggle and standing on tip toes to stretch the calves. After the 15 minute warm up, children were given a couple of minutes to have a drink or to visit the lavatories if needed. The main activity was set up as an assault course, where children moved from 1 activity to another. The equipment used was all very safe and the instructor arrived at least 15 minutes early to go through them and make sure all the equipments were working fine and that none were faulty. The beams, balancing benches and springboards were not the normal standard size but were adapted specifically for children. Mattings and paddings of sufficient size and density were placed where a landing would occur, or based on the design of an exercise, for example, for protection during a hand stand. The children started off by jumping off the springboard on to a soft horse bench. They then proceeded to do forward rolls on a soft mat, then a hand stand. They balanced themselves on a balance beam, before jumping onto trampoline, then going into the climbing frame. In between these exercises, the instructors gave children a few minutes break to get a drink or to visit the lavatory. The exercises used in the main activity focused on working different types of fitness components such as, strength, agility, balance, cardiovascular endurance and flexibility. The techniques used in this activity was appropriate because children have a lower capacity to do intense activity lasting 10-90s compared to adults so they are well suited to intermittent activities. (Howley et al, 2003) The variety of activities not only kept their attention, but it protected them from overemphasising on a specific sport and training intensely which could lead to emotional and physical problems. The benefits of exercise on children are that it enhances their fitness and health, and reduces risk for illness. The children enjoyed themselves greatly, and the instructors addressed them in very simple and friendly language. OVER 50's The next class I observed was a session for Over 50's. (Ref. Appendix 2) A population group over 50 is classified as special because as they age, their physical, emotional and mental function is no longer the same. Their joints have less mobility which increases risk injury therefore they will require programming that addresses these risks. Health related problems increase with both age and inactivity so older people need to be active and exercise to try and avoid illness. There is evidence that â€Å"..onset, progression and severity of many diseases in older people can be prevented, minimized or delayed with the provision of effective health promotion programmes, therapeutic exercises or physical activities† (Morris et al, 2004 p.1) The session was an aerobics course for 15 members lasting 45 minutes. The warm up section contained a range of movements that lasted a good 15 minutes. Warm up is important because it increases internal body temperature and reduces risk of injury. Movements included stretching and exercises such as heel raises, knee lifts, shoulder lifts and circles working through a pain free range of motion. Stretching exercises that emphasize range of motion and flexibility have been shown to increase ankle, knee joint and lower back flexibility in older adults. (Cotton 1998) The basic step-touch-step was used as a returning starting position before beginning a new movement. The warm up was accompanied by some soft, sustained music that set the mood. Music helps relax the mind and makes participants become more aware of their movements, breathing and posture (Best-Martini, 2003) Participants were given a break after warm up to freshen up. The aerobic activity lasted 10 minutes, was low impact and smooth completed movements were used rather than jerky, abrupt ones. There were sweeping hand movements involved, reaching and squatting. The aerobic part was similar to the warm up but with variations and at a slightly faster pace. The music as well was more lively which helped boost the participants motivation. The instructor used gradual transitions and cued clearly and well in advance. The weight training was next, which again lasted 10 minutes. They did very simple exercises using 1 kilo dumbbells, step, and cones. The group were assigned different stations: some participants did bicep curls with knee lifts, others did squats on the step, others marched on the sport lifting the dumbbells, and the rest did power walking around the cones with their arms swinging. They each had 30 seconds to do each exercise before moving on to the next. After four minutes, they rested for a bit before continuing again. There was no music used during resistance training so that the participants could concentrate. Once the weight training was over, they used the basic aerobics step to move into cool down. Again, soft, relaxing music was used, and the same, smooth, free range of movements used in the warm up was used to cool down. The participants seem to be having fun. It was a great way of socialising and they were chatting amongst each other throughout the whole session. For the health and safety part of the session, there was enough room and space for everyone to avoid anyone getting hurt. There were also mats placed by the steps to prevent participants from slipping while doing squats. The techniques used were appropriate because older adult exercisers â€Å"will be looking be looking for safe, low impact exercise programs that enhance overall fitness, including cardiovascular endurance, strength, flexibility, coordination, and balance (Van, 1995, P.5) The sweeping hand movements and free range of motion reduces the risk of joint stress and injury to senior participants. It was appropriate and also maybe necessary for the participants to take regular breaks because their maximum heart rate decreases, and so does stroke volume meaning they have a higher rate of oxygen deficit than younger adults. The instructor provided a lot of verbal feedback always checking if they were alright and motivating them. The physiological benefits of exercise on older adults are improvement in cardiovascular functioning and slowing down the age-related declines in bodily function. The psychological benefits are improved mental health, reduced stress and anxiety and feeling more relaxed and refreshed. (Best-Martini, 2003) DISABILITY: For the disabled population, I visited the motorcise gym catering especially for their needs (Ref. Appendix 3) . Motorcise is a centre that has specifically been opened to help those people who find gyms or health clubs intimidating. The club is open to Women only over 40, and provides brilliant facilities for the older women, overweight and disabled. There is a relaxed friendly atmosphere, with dedicated staff on hand to assist the members, whatever there needs. The atmosphere, as well as the centre's specific equipment means that members can really benefit. Socially it gives them a chance to meet new people, and provides them with a social platform depending on the number of times they visit the centre. Physically though the centre is excellent for all the cliental groups. The machines motorcise use, are as the name shows, Motorised. It is a completely new system that makes exercise easy and fun to do. Women who were in the session had multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, chronic back pain, diabetes and they found the machines really helpful and enjoyed working out. On average members use the centre twice a week and this can help improve their health and wellbeing, increase energy levels, tone the body as well as boosting their confidence. The sessions only take 30minutes so members are able to fit the work out around their daily lives. Sport has a great deal therapeutic value and plays a great part in physical, psychological and social rehabilitation / factors for a disabled person. The level of a person's disability will determine the amount of exercise and participation. It's important that the disabled have the facilities to participate to the best of their ability and to be able to enjoy sport like everybody else. People with disabilities find it hard to participate in sport for a number of reasons. They feel unable to fit into sporting environment, no self confidence to take part and the feel of failure. They have a mentality that because they are disabled any kind of physical activity would be beyond their capability. Put this together with the lack of information, facilities, and support for disabled sport it is very easy for a person with a slight disability to be put off participating in sport. (Health Education Authority, 1997) Motorcise has 10 machines each working a different group muscle. The ‘Chester' is the first machine that every woman goes on which is basically like a warm up in an activity session. It gets the circulation moving and warms up the muscle joints. Each machine has two different settings, the ‘Slow Passive Pace' and the ‘Fast Pace.' These machines are adapted specifically for people with certain limitations to do physical activity. At slow pace, the machine does the work for them, it is only getting the muscle joints warmed up. When set on to the fast pace, the individual is then working with it by pushing the bars, or pulling them down, or lifting their legs, or pushing down on it. If a woman has immobility in her knees, then she would adapt to it by planting her feet on the floor and using just her arms, or if she has frozen shoulders, she would cross her arms over her chest and work only her lower body. Each machine has very good back support padding, and there are special cushions available for a woman with very bad back problems. To name a few, there is the ‘Noddy Crunch' which works the upper abs and lower back. The ‘Latty Leg Press' works on the shoulders, leg press and posture. As you push up with the shoulders, you push up with your knees then push down again, lengthening the spine and working the posture. The last machine for is specifically for cool down called the ‘Ricky Relaxerciser.' It has low frequency sound waves that give a soft vibration giving the women a feeling of relaxation. This recreation centre gives great facilities and opportunities for disabled women. It is in a safe, fun and supportive environment. It gives them a chance to socialise, boost their self esteem, have more confidence and not only that, improves their health and aids them with the mobility in their joints and flexibility. Physical activity is effective in playing a role in behaviour – â€Å"..interventions that promote moderate and non-endurance physical activities (flexibility exercises) are associated with long-term changes in behaviour† (Health Development Agency) PREGNANCY: Pregnant women are special because there is an increase in body mass will reduce her exercise capacity, swimming provides and element of support. The increased metabolic rate and increased body weight, means oxygen demand during pregnancy increases. (Bird, S.R, 1998) The session I observed was an aqua aerobics class for pregnant women that lasted 45 minutes (Ref. Appendix 4). â€Å"Safety: Water is supportive through buoyancy, resistive in nature and equal in hydrostatic pressure on the submerged body part. Weakness, joint or limb swelling, loss of motion or flexibility and overall loss of endurance are safely addressed in the aquatic environment† (White, 1995 pp 3-5). It was very low intensity with slow and controlled movements. The warm up involved walking around the pool for a few minutes, chatting amongst themselves. Next, they were lightly jogging around the pool, other women who were too far into pregnancy continued walking. Along with lower body movements, they performed various arm motions such as the breast stroke, back stroke, punches, pushes and sweeps. The cardiovascular workout was done at a low intensity and for a moderate duration. The aim was to get breathlessness. (Lawrence 1998) Women used woggles as part of their main activity to support themselves. They did a cycling movement by having a woggle under both arms while legs were cycling. It was a good work out for the whole body, and not only that, they also worked out their neck and head. Explosive and jerky movements were avoided because â€Å"†¦.the increase in body mass will become a limitation..(Bird, 1998, p.288) which could overstretch ligaments and tendons doing more damage than healing. Throughout the main workout, there were regular breaks taken, which meant marching on the spot and performing flowing, rhythmical mobility exercises, like sweeping the water etc.. The cool down was just as slow and relaxed as the warm up, and the women were given a few minutes at the end of the class to just float on their backs and enjoy the feeling of weightlessness. It is beneficial for pregnant women to exercise in water because they are better accommodated in water because of the supportive and gravity-reduced environment. The buoyancy opposes the force of gravity allowing the body to move more freely and easily than on land. (White, 1995) It reduces the weight and stress placed on joints and ligaments, spine and hip. Resistance works out the muscles and tones them without being too intense. There is equal pressure form the water on the body that increases with depth. This is helpful for swelling around the joints or circulatory problems because the static fluid around the joints is forced upward toward the heart by hydrostatic pressure. (Lawrence, 1998) The overall balance of the woman is also enhanced because she is constantly moving forwards, backwards and sideward in a dynamic environment. DISCUSSION: Each population group had different techniques but they also had some similarities. Each group started with a warm up and cool down that lasted at least 15 minutes. This is important for getting the circulation moving, and working the muscles and joints to prevent injury. The children's session was similar to the over 50's and pregnant women in the sense that they took regular breaks. The children needed breaks because doing physical activity for a short amount of time made them run out of breath. â€Å"Children respond to exercise with shallower respirations and higher respiratory frequencies than adolescents and adults. During maximal exercise children may reach over 75 breaths/min compared with a normal adult response of about 45 breaths/min.† (Lee, 1993, p.69) The older adults needed regular breaks because there is a â€Å"..decrease in both stroke volume (the volume of blood pumped from the heart during one heartbeat) and maximum heart rate (the highest heart rate a person can attain.)..† (Van, 1995 P.11) The pregnant women had to take regular breaks because â€Å"high intensity activities may restrict blood flow to the foetus†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Lawrence, 1998 P. 159) The language the instructors used with the children's session differed from the rest because they used simple and fun language to address them. Each group was similar in the sense that they each had certain limitations to perform physical activity. For children, it was the fact that they were still growing and developing so overtraining was not appropriate. For older adults, it was the fact that some of them might have loss some sense of coordination, flexibility or mobility. For pregnant women, it was the increase in mass that might have prevented her from doing the usual things. For the disabled population, it was their disability that was their limitation. However, despites all these limitations, there were no barriers to stop them from participating in physical activity. They overcame all their limitations and barriers, and each one of them was able to participate in physical activity like everyone else. After going on these fieldtrips, I learnt that no matter what kind of barrier or limitation someone has, this cannot stop them from participating in physical activity as illustrated by these four special population groups. It is great that most leisure/recreation centres have facilities and opportunities that cater specifically for these groups needs.

The UzDaewoo Auto Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The UzDaewoo Auto Project - Assignment Example Uzbekistan was and continues to self sufficient on the agriculture front. Uzbekistan is the fourth largest producer of cotton in the world producing more than 1.5 million tons every year. The country also produces 70 Tons every year of gold making it the leading producer in the region for the metal. It also produces 40 billion tons of natural gas. Uzbek remains one of the largest producers of molybdenum, tungsten, copper and zinc. Though the large desert lands in the middle of the country hurts the continuity of living space, the country boasts itself of a large natural resource and rich agricultural produce. We can possible conclude that there is immense potential for growth in the country with a high education background and an adult literacy rate of over 90%, this is going to be a major motivating factor for any investor. Political climate in the country was stable and was more for consistent economic and industrial growth which would result in better living standards of its people. Fourth reason that any investor should consider is, nearly 85% of the people hold driving license where as only one million cars were plying the roads of Uzbekistan in 1980s when the total population was 22 million and 85% of them could drive! The major competition in Uzbekistan market for cars was from Russia, other Korean companies, European companies and a few US companies like GM and Ford. Russians had positioned their low end model in the country and it was selling at around 6,000/- rubles and the Ford was selling its Escort as a C Class car at around USD 10,000/-. Taking all this into consideration3, Daewoo needs to position itself one at the lower end of the market where there is a huge market since the country has a huge population not having a car to drive but know driving4. There are also people in the market who already had a car but is in need of the luxury that only a better car could provide. There is also a requirement for Daewoo to position a van that would carry a larger number of people instead of the traditional four. Based on all these requirements and also on the fact that the climate and the road conditions in Uzbekistan is not congenial for standard low bodied and low chassis models, cars have to be redesigned to suit the conditions existing in that country5. Daewoo had to and did position a model for every one of these requirements faced by the company. There was a low end module, Tico, which was sold at around USD 6,790/- that catered to the needs described

Development of Media Art Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Development of Media Art - Dissertation Example Historical Aspects: According to Benjamin (1986) "technology transforms the entire nature of art", and the same can be witnessed throughout the past centuries, where the art form gradually developed from paintings, to print, to videos and finally to digital arts in recent times. It is on account of these changes, that the field of media art today; has transformed significantly, to include diverse practices used by the artists eventually translating into a wider audience and markets. The history and evolution of media arts is described in four key phases i.e. the era of films during the early 20th century; the invention of video and its impact on arts during the early nineteenth century; the beginning of the media arts movement during the late nineteenth century; finally culminating into the current trend - that of invention and development of digital media triggered by the technological revolution during the late nineteenth century. Films during the early nineteenth century could mai nly be categorized into two distinct categories i.e. those which catered to the commercial aspects and followed the narrative style and those which were experimental or 'short films'. The innovation in the field of media arts during this era was mainly with regard to the use of sounds, and other artistic techniques such as use of special effects such as slow motions, or close-ups as well as the ability to edit the films. These techniques were mainly followed for both narrative as well as experimental films. According to Renan (1967) most of the films developed during this period were 'experimental' in nature, which explored subjects and themes which were highly controversial. This eventually gave rise to the documentary film making, which was dominant during this era. The next phase i.e. during the 1960s was marked by the advent of video, within the arena of media arts, which was further fuelled by the invention of television and broadcasting technologies (Vogel, 1998). However sinc e these inventions were relatively new, the cost of producing and implementing such technologies was relatively higher and hence it restricted the open and liberal use of this form of media by the artists (Rush, 2001; Hanhardt, 2000). However, the scenario changed drastically over the years, and the art form gradually expanded to include a wider variety of media arts (Furlong, 1983; D'Agostino, 1985). These new developments brought about a new and fresh wave of changes in the field of media arts leading to the influx of new artists who excelled in the art form, and ultimately changed the existing and conventional media practices adopted by artists during those times. The subsequent years i.e. the years between 1960 and 1970 saw another significant wave of change, which culminated into the launch of the Media Arts Movement, whereby the pioneers of the industry realized the need for change in the manner in which the current media was functioning especially with regard to the projectio n of issues concerning third world countries, and strived to bring about relevant and effective changes. This was the era which was dominated by an ideology whereby media was perceived and practiced as a predominantly artistic form rather than acknowledging its commercial aspect, which was largely ignored. Eventually towards the end of this decade, the prices of the film

Nanotechnology Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Nanotechnology - Research Paper Example Nanotechnology has so far been of help and has also found its way into the treatment of infectious diseases. Nanotechnology works by making use of the nano materials that have antimicrobial properties and makes use of encapsulated benzoyl oxide, which improves the activity as well as the tolerability of the anti-acne agent. Acne comes into the picture as being one of the most common dermatological conditions. Nanotech medication that has strong antimicrobial properties to treat an infectious disease can be devised. The drugs will be administered and allowed to diffuse in the target body fluid with some pressure being felt; the upward and downward forces will always be in balance. 6Ï€rÃŽ ·v will be a force acting in resistance to the particle. Here, r represents the radius of the blood vessel; n represents body fluid viscosity, and v represents the velocity that the nanotech drug will be moving along the blood vessels. As it is known, Stokes law is almost a presence in almost all fields, and as such it has its application here too. Chitosan application in nanotech medication is mainly felt as a delivery tool and also due to its inherent antimicrobial property that is very useful in the treatment of

Chicago a place to see Speech or Presentation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Chicago a place to see - Speech or Presentation Example Magic Chicago where magicians gather to revive the hallmark art form of Chicago, the Chicago River, which is a long eyesore that attracts large numbers of tourists while the Sears tower is a complex architectural structure in the city where people come to watch other states from the city. These and many other sites makes Chicago the place to be, hence the phrase, â€Å"Chicago the place to see† The Viola is a four-story monolith standing on Bryn Mawr Avenue that was built before the depression. What makes it a major tourist attraction site is the irony of the purpose of the reason for its construction, and its structural design in its interior. The building was built as a church by the Edgewater Presbyterian church, making it an unlikely place for some of the world’s most renowned magicians to appear and foreshow their talent. The architectural design of the theatre is what is even more spectacular, with the audience members having to walk up a long flight of stairs and wait in the hallway, making them feel like they are attending a Sunday school (Pang, 2009). Once the audience is inside, they discover the revelation of the city lit theatre, with its ornate, charmingly old-time performance space with wrap-around and an elevated seating for a hundred people. Nobody would expect such a theatre in a place like that. There is a monthly showcase of magicians and novelty acts that occupies the theatre on the first Wednesday of every month unlike the norm that was in the city about 50 years ago when magic used to be performed in restaurants and bars, Chicago nowadays sees less of such jostle due to the few options available, with comedy performances having taken over the performance arts stage. The Viola thus fills this gap and gives people a treat of magic performances by the worlds’ most famous magicians. What is even catchier about these performances is the difference in the setting to that of popular magic performances. Actually, â€Å"There is no glitzy Vegus production with tigers and industrial circular saws. More often than not, minds are blown in the audience, and the performers are close enough to catch the splatter† (Pang, 2009). The Chicago River is yet another tourist attraction site, with its long eyesore waterways turning to be a centre of tourist attraction, which are being reclaimed. Tourists have to walk past abandoned warehouses, cross-dusty railroad tracks and side step trashed mattresses in order to follow the course of the river (Valente, 1992). Dwellers of the city and concerned citizens have come up together to pull efforts together in order to rehabilitate the river, a wave that has spread across America with campaigns and initiatives to rehabilitate urban rivers. The river attracts some of the most passionate fans, which include a class of devoted poets, artists and writers. Although some of the river art have been met with a lot of problems, artists’ still believe that the river is a great place to show art. The coming into existence of the river in the city is what attracts more numbers of tourists to the city. The story is told of how for years, Chicago built a tourist attraction as being the city on the lake. Then without a warning, the underground tunnel collapsed and water came gushing into the basements of downtown offices, causing businesses to shut down for days. The course of the river is similar to most of urban waterways, where part of it flow alongside trash dumps

Aspirations for Future-Social Work Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Aspirations for Future-Social Work - Essay Example The purpose of life may also change continuously for some individuals as they gain more experiences in life .I have also wondered about how my life should take shape , in order to figure out my career options I made a not of how my personality is and what career options will best suit me .I have always been troubled by my desire to help people. I have noted since my early childhood days that I become worried when people around me are facing any trouble. I simply cannot ignore their situation and move on in life. The desire to help anyone in trouble sometimes becomes an obsession for me. I am not talking about helping only the poor people or things like that; I even want to help people who face any family or personal problems. I have learnt to live with this attitude of mine and have even decided to move ahead my career path in this direction. Work Environment Social work; although a very satisfying career option but is also a very challenging one. The work environment is not the one which is provided by corporate world. Understaffing and large caseloads is the norm in the industry. Social workers also have to work under a lot of budgetary constraints as unlimited amount of money is never available to a social worker. The work also involves a lot of field visits and leaving your desk to visit the client. The working hours are normally 40 hours a week but may even increase in emergency situations. Educational Qualifications and Trainings Required A bachelor’s degree in social work (BSW) is the basic requirement that most organization demand for entry level positions in social work .These programs deal with social work values and ethics, promotion of social and economic justice human behaviour and social research methods. Most of the programs also provide you with minimum of 400 hours of field work. (British Association Of Social Workers, 2011) As a thumb rule in England I need 5 GCSE’s grade A to Cincluding English and Mathsand 2 A-levels.These aret hegrades that Ineed to obtain in order to enter a BSW program. (Prospects, 2011) However if I want to move into heath and school work or even clinical work ; then a masters degree in social work will be required(MSW).At this stage I really do not know if I would like to go for the Masters degree but would decide as time progresses. A doctorate degree will be my preferred option if I want to teach in a university. I am currently not keeping this as an option as I would like to work on the field and leave the research work to others. Apart from these necessary degrees a social worker also needs to undergo various certifications and programs in order to advance in his career forward. Most states also require social workers to fulfil licensing, certification or registration requirements-these will be studies by me when I actually work on the field. Some of the colleges which I will be targeting for my BSW programme have been listed by me in the table below- (Social Work Training, 2011) Bristol University Middlesex University Birmingham University Bradford University Cardiff University Lancaster University Leeds Metropolitan University Liverpool University Employment Opportunities According to department of labour statistics, 67% of jobs in 2008 were in the healthcare and social assistance industries and 23% were employed by the government. (British Association Of Social Workers, 2011) Most of the social workers have been working in the cities but some do get a chance to work in the rural areas as well .The BASW predicts tough competition in urban

Popular Culture-Villains Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Popular Culture-Villains - Essay Example The source asserts that the movies where Lecter is not presented significantly i.e. Lambs and Manhunter are better in the series because more attention is deflected from the main character. The author rates other movies lowly due to the fact that Lecter is predominantly represented in the movies. The source even goes to extent of predicting the nature of the next movie in reference to the past trends. It is predicted that Lecter will still feature predominantly, â€Å"†¦the next Lecter film gets made (I’m quite certain it will, and probably sooner than later), it’s going to have to feature Lecter predominantly† (Lev 4). This is an assumption that the preceding movies in the series might be of low quality, which is not always the case. The first impression that the article presents to the reader is that the â€Å"totally overrated† status that is used to define Hannibal Lecter is due to the cheap price attached to the book (Lev 1). However, the low price of the material might not be necessarily because the product is of low quality. Other factors such as the economic stability of the readers could be at play. The source may dismiss the actor as overrated but the admission that the AFI named him the leading movie villain of all times. This creates doubts on the sincerity of the overrated claims. One of the source’s ratings of the main character is related to his role, â€Å"...guy with his tics and theatrical preening and eating people ...† (Lev 3). This is a personal confession of the author on the unpleasant things that the he identified after watching the movies. Although some character behaviors might not be attractive, the source should not have blamed all the weaknesses on the Lecter alon e because he serves to advance the theme of the film. Therefore, the failure to entertain should also be blamed on the general failure of thematic organization of the movie. The roles of the characters should be the same as that of the directors as they all work

Advanced Financial Accounting; Corporate Social Responsibility Essay

Advanced Financial Accounting; Corporate Social Responsibility - Essay Example The policy of CSR operates is self regulated and built in a mechanism in which a business ensures and monitors its compliance with the spirit of ethical standards, the law as well as international norms. When employed, CRS aims at embracing responsibility for the actions of the business and encourage desired impacts through its operations on the consumers, environment, stakeholders, communities and employees (Kvaal and Nobes, 2010, p. 180). CRS aids the business’s mission and guides it to stand for the will of its consumers. Sustainability development embraces business ethics through applying ethics that examine moral and ethical principles that are common in any business environment. CRS ensures a sustainable development approach to the business’s economic development, responsible environmental management and social progress (Luez and Verrecchia, 2000, p. 100). This follows the fact that CSR helps the organizations to have continued commitment to contribute to the deve lopment of the economy at the same time behaving ethically to improve the life quality of the employees as well as the local society and community at large. Businesses over the years have been promoted through CSR strategies now that the public, consumers and the investors expect them to be responsible and sustainable (Milllon, 1993, p. 1). In selected cases, CSR may result in a number of environmental, social and economic pressures and has been regarded as a strategy to divert the attention of interested parties from the environmental impacts and negative social impacts. The above situation has led to scholars to argue that businesses tend to tame the sustainability concept to imply that it is more than just an environmental and social engagement that businesses can be able to easily accommodate (Neville, 2012, p. 37) Businesses focus their strategies on identifying and employing CSR forms that lead to win-win situations for the wider stakeholders and business. They consider CSR as an extensions of the existing management toolkit meant to enhance shareholders wealth through offering business new opportunities and this is can be achieved through sustainable development like coming up with financial value, improving their management system, encouraging innovation, transparency to stakeholders, continuous improvement, risk awareness and enhancing reputation (Sheeba, 2011, p. 95.  ). Apart from considering CSR as a trade off or managerial distraction against profits, case proponents promote the idea of having the corporations taking charge of their social environment making it part of their main business activity. Including social considerations in the decisions of the business and employing a leadership role in social matters can also be looked at as means of promoting a light-handed strategy to regulations (Shim & Siegel, 2008, p. 81). CSR can end up reducing the future regulation prospects and be regarded as an alternative to business regulations. In such a context, CRS is hence mainly placed in the traditional framework of creating value for the owners of the business through putting more interest in the possibility of a win-win situation. Managing, understanding and responding to the expectations of shareholders can be looked at as self-interests that have been enlightened (Siegel & Shim, 2008, p. 29) Most businesses justify their approaches and strategies by referring only the positive correlations between profits, the activities of CSR and shareholders returns (Freidman, 2002, p. 63). This however should not be the case as any approach assumed by a business in relation to CSR depends on how ethical investment is defined and that

Lab #8 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lab #8 - Essay Example The model forecast temperature reduction if sulphates emissions will be reduced. The model also predicts that warming will result to faster soil perspiration leading to greater amount of carbon dioxide being released to the atmosphere. This will hasten the global warming process. Though these models provide predictive solutions about climatic change, they have come under great criticism. This regards to the issue of classifying them as scientific or merely non scientific predictions. Models are used both in the scientific field and also in the business field. Models are predictive. This means that a probability index has to be associated with them. There are chances that what is predicted might occur or not. Scientific experiments are also conducted using formulated hypothesis that help to determine if the hypothesis is true or not. This shows that the climate models are scientific indeed. Furthermore, these models are based on real observable physical parameters that help climatologist to predict changes in climate patterns. According to Schmidt, G. (2005, January 12) these patterns are scientific. The controversy about them is the scale of application. When these climate predictions are applied on small scale, the effects may not be clearly visible. When these models are applied to a larger scale, comprehensive results can be obtained. The climatic models take into account the circulation of air, radiation transfer, cloud formation, sea ice formation, and soil moisture content. These are contained in sub modules of the General Circulation Models. These models contain information of how physical processes interact. During their prediction scientific laws and rules for the conservation of energy mass and momentum are obeyed. Discrediting these models as non scientific is ridiculous as they are formulated using and following scientific rules. The validation of the climate models is not simple as they predict long term global effects.

Hunger Games Book Report Essay Example for Free

Hunger Games Book Report Essay â€Å"The Hunger Games† is a the first book in a fantastic series of three books written by Suzanne Collins. It takes you into the life of a scared but quick-thinking, brave girl named Katniss Everdeen who learns how to survive on her own from a very young age when her father died in a mining accident. From that day on, she took care of her little family (mother and little sister, Prim) as well as herself by hunting in the woods of District 12 everyday with her guy friend Gale (who might have a thing for her but no one really knows). District 12 was one of the twelve districts that made up the country of Panem. Panem was once the continent of North America. When an epidemic swept through the continent of North America, Panem was formed and, the people who lived under the rules set by the capitol did not like it. They rebelled against the capitol and lost. Now, every year, childrens names, ages 12 through 18, are put into a bowl and drawn out during a ceremony known as â€Å"The Reaping. † This is a dreaded time and no one wants to be a part of it because they know that if their names are drawn, it is almost like a death sentence. When a name is called, you are then taken and thrown into what is known as â€Å"The Hunger Games. † Our narrator, main character, and hero also known as Katniss Everdeen, offered herself as a tribute in place of her younger sister Prim in an effort to save her life. When her and Peeta Mellark (the boy tribute from district 12) were taken off to the capitol, they went through some pretty intense training and in the end, well, youll have to read the book to find out what happened but it was sort of an unexpected ending. This book was so good because it kept you on your toes the whole time. I would rate it a solid 9. 5. I gave it that high of a rating because, the unexpected seemed to happen a lot and things popped up all the time out of no where. The book also kept a good pace and there werent to many dull moments; there was just enough detail that you could picture what was going on in your head while the story kept moving. The only thing that I did not like about this book was the fact that it seemed almost too futuristic. Yes, it is true that the story takes place millions of years from our present day but, it seemed almost to realistic. Crazy is a good word that describes what some of the people acted like that lived in the capitol. In all though, I really did think that this was a very good book and I would suggest it to anyone who was considering reading it.

Relationship Between Trade Volume and Stock Price Variation

Relationship Between Trade Volume and Stock Price Variation Relationship between trading volume  and the stock price  variation in the London Stock Market Chapter 1 Introduction Trading volume is the signal of activity occurring in a stock that is a product of some sort of stimulus. Stock price variations represent changes in stock pricing as a result of the same factor, outside stimulus. With the foregoing being the case, it is apparent that there is a definitive link between these two facets as they represent the activity that is the purpose of listing companies, to let the market determine their value. Nguyen and Daigler (2006) add illumination to the preceding by using a Wall Street adage that states â€Å"it takes volume to make prices move†, and that â€Å"volume is relatively heavy in bull markets and light in bear markets†. Karpoff (1987, pp. 109-126) adds that is a link that exists between trading volume and price change, and that there is a link between trading volume and the fluctuation level of price change. Thus, from the foregoing, trading volume and stock price variations are linked in their activity. Therefore, it is the nature of this linkage that represents the nuance of the question. The question is, what are the dynamics of that relationship and how does it work? Does trading volume move and affect stock price variations, or is it stock price variations that help to impact upon trading volume? How does trading volume increase or decrease and what are the stock price reactions that can be gleaned from these movements as represented by what cause and effect relationships. These contexts will be explored and examined, taking into account the market mechanism in which they occur, the London Stock Exchange, and how such dynamics interact upon each other. The London Stock Exchange was founded on 3 March 1801 and represents one of the world’s largest and most active stock exchanges, and its formation provided a market for securities as well as regulations in the manner in which business in the case of public companies should be conducted through monitoring and adjudication by a committee that was â€Å"†¦ enforced by the threat of expulsion †¦Ã¢â‚¬ . (Michie, 1999, p. 35). Stock markets represent an organized and regulated system where capital allocation occurs through the trading of securities that represent the shares of listed companies (Baumol, 1965, pp. 2-10). Companies that develop new products, build a reputation in consumer or industrial markets, earn dividends and returns, and allocate their resources to build internal value that is translated into stock pricing. The foregoing represents simplistic explanation of a process that in reality is an extremely complex matter. The anticipated and â€Å"†¦ exp ected future dollar benefits to be received by stockholders are dividends†, which represent the means via which returns on stockholder investment are transferred directly back to the shareholders (Bolten, 2000, p. 9). Thus shareholders and potential investors in companies look at a company’s past, present and future projected earnings as a factor in whether to acquire, retain and or hold onto a stock. There are numerous factors at work in the market a company operates in, as represented by competitive positioning, the overall economic situation, demand for products, goods and or services in the industry sector the company operates in, new developments and a host of other variables that can and do affect company performance, earnings and the ability to pay dividends, all of which represent risk. The importance of the preceding is that these risks can either result in positive or negative developments, thus, if a stock is projected to and or is returning dividends lower than when the stock was acquired, its price will reflect this and subsequently be lower, with the opposite also being true (Bolten, 2000, p. 10). However, the preceding alone does not explain and or portray stock pricing on its own as there are other variables that will be discussed and examined in this analysis to draw correlations to the relationship between trading volume and stock price variations. Trading volume represents the number of shares that are traded during a given time period (investorwords.com, 2007) thus the preceding is relatively straightforward and easy to visualise. However, there are other underlying factors that represent deeper and more complex determinants that are part of stock trading volume. The varied facets of stock pricing, reflecting the relative success and or position of the company in terms of is sales, competitive posture, earnings performance, dividends, management, future industry prospects, product innovations, public relations activity along with the correlation of price/earnings ratios and numerable other factors that have a bearing on and in this process (Lo and Wang, 2000, pp. 267-300). The forces inherent in the stock market itself as represented by shorting activity, bid/ask spreads, institutional, professional and individual traders as well as economic forecasts and interest rates all have differing influences and effects within the pre ceding dynamics (Lo and Wang, 2000, pp. 267-300). The foregoing is a summary of the highly complex process of stock price variations that are effected and influenced by the complex variable of factors that interact upon each other. There are a number of theories on trading volume, just as there are for stock price variation. Mingelgrin et al (2001, pp. 877-919) along with Anshuman et al (2001, pp. 3-32) put forth that when stocks are experiencing trading volume that is unusually high, or low, earn either positive, or negative abnormal returns rise or retreat during the next month. This is explained as being a result of what they term as the combined return effect that is due to the increased, or decreased, stock visability after the aforementioned high or low trading volume. In this theory, Mingelgrin et al (2001, pp. 877-919) and Anshuman et al (2001, pp. 3-32) argue that stock visability can affect price as a result of a number of rationales. Mayshar (1983, pp. 114-128) draws the conclusion that when a stock experiences either high volume, the effect suggests either optimisum, in the case of buying activity, or negativeism, in the case of selling, that triggers additional activity based upon the premise of at tracting, in the case of buying, additional investors or added buying by present stock holders causing the demand curve to shift upwards. Such effect can be the result of positive news regarding the company concerning sales, meeting profit and or sales targets, and or estimates, positive economic news, and other variables with the reverse, selling sctivity, is also true. Other theories and approaches to the explanation of trading volume can take the form of investor trading styles, beliefs and or theories. Some, investors, utilize trading styles that are based upon the characteristics of the stock correlated against the company’s size and or momentum at a particular point in time (Admati, and Pfleiderer, 1998, pp. 3-40). There are investors, such as professional traders that utilize technical analysis as well as quantitaive strategies for trading whereby if the conditions fit their parameters they invest in large blocks of stock, thus drawing attention to the stock inviting similar or more analysis and potential buying activity (Barberis and Shleifer, 2003, pp. 161-199). The basic unifying theory behind this type of investor trading style is that they tend to hold and acquire stocks that fit their defined characteristics. Conversely, when a stock selection no longer fits these pre-defined style paramters, they tend to be sold, thus creating an other type of trading volume swing if their share holdings are large enough, through the influencing of other shareholders, many of which utilize computer trading programs that detect and alert them to stock momentum swings (Barberis and Shleifer, 2003, pp. 161-199). Stock trading represents the opportunity for investors to profit on the upward movement of companies when their strategy is based upon price appreciation as opposed to dividend returns (Dow, 1999). Termed income stocks, dividend buying can occur at any time, but tends to happen mostly after an established period of earnings and dividend growth, whereas growth, or price appreciation trading is generally tied to positive company developments, news, acquisitions, new markets, innovation and changing industry conditions (Dow, 1999). Growth or price appreciation investors sell winners and sell losers or tend to hold or utilize what is known as averaging to buy additional stock as a lower price so that when it moves upward they can either retrieve losses or break even (Odean, 1998, pp. 1775 – 1798). The varied motivations, trading strategies, theories, trading styles and additional aspects are factors tied to company performance, news, market fundamentals, market cycles, stock price s, and other variables which shall be further examined in terms of the various components of trading volume and stock price variation. Chapter 2 – Trading Volume The factors influencing and affecting trading volume can range from the effects of institutional investments, professional traders, trading programs, company momentum, earnings growth, new product introductions and similar positive company news and or developments, economic forecasts, interest rates, speculation, price appreciation or growth, income or dividend investing, price earnings ratios and positive company fundamentals. Each of the preceding represents a factor or factors that investors utilizes in making a determination to buy or sell, thus creating trading volume. The first of these, institutional investing, represents one of the most influential forces in stock market trading as delegated portfolio management, as it is termed, represents investments made by pension and mutual funds representing huge sums of financial resources seeking growth, or price appreciation, returns (Naik and Maug, 1996). This group is the most influential of all the preceding categories as a result of their research staffs, analysts, corporate analysis programs, tracking programs and other measures as portfolio managers have access to the most complete cross section of economic, industry, individual company and overall stock market data. As a result of the large sums of money that portfolio managers control, their buying and selling activities are closely watched and observed by their peers, thus representing tremendous sums of money that can move into and out of stocks based upon developments that these individuals believe represent buying opportunities, or conditions earmarking sale (Naik and Maug, 1996). Portfolio managers in the U.S., as a result of their fiduciary responsibilities have a number of constraints governing their investment decisions and choices which represent â€Å"†¦ protective covenants †¦Ã¢â‚¬  put into place to mitigate agency problems concerning the actions of investment firms and their portfolio managers who are acting in the public trust (Almazan et al, 2004, p. 289). The preceding is a product of the pressures of the compensation based earnings incentives that portfolio managers operate under, and the risk taking decisions they are subject to. The incidence of peer watching in this industry is an important facet of their investment making decisions as opposed to the belief that they tend to act on individual information and analysis, which is the case for the brightest and most respected of this group, but by and large portfolio managers tend to be followers (Naik and Maug, 1996). The foregoing provides an explanation as to why there are huge monet ary movements into and out of stocks triggered by investment decisions of a key respected group. U.S. pension fund strategy tends to invest more heavily â€Å"†¦ in lower volatility domestic bonds than their UK counterparts †¦ (which tend to) †¦ have a far larger weighing in higher volatility equities† (Blake et al, 1998). In terms of regulations imposed upon UK portfolio managers represents the less restrictive â€Å"†¦ of externally imposed restrictions †¦ on their investment behavior †¦Ã¢â‚¬  found anywhere in the world (Blake et al, 1998). UK portfolio managers are basically â€Å"†¦ unconstrained by their liabilities †¦Ã¢â‚¬  and â€Å"†¦ trustee sponsors †¦Ã¢â‚¬  basically do not infer with their daily operations and investment choices, which is different from â€Å"†¦ their counterparts in continental Europe and elsewhere †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Blake et al, 1998). This means that UK portfolio mangers can invest in basically â€Å"†¦ any security in any asset class in any currency †¦ and in any amount †¦Ã¢â‚¬ , however there are trustee resistances to derivatives as well as statutory differences regarding â€Å"†¦ self investment in the sponsoring company† (Blake et al, 1998). The preceding is in sharp contrast to portfolio mana gers in the United States who face substantial regulatory controls and litigation threats â€Å"†¦ over imprudent investment behavior †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Blake et al, 1998). This relatively open and unconstrained investment climate gives UK portfolio managers a large degree of latitude, thus the effects of their investment decisions, monetary movements and reactions of peers and laggards, meaning those who tend to follow the buying and selling behaviours of the more astute managers, has a more profound effect on trading on the London Stock Exchange than in the United States and many other markets. The effect of the follow the leader approach, as put forth by Naik and Maug (1996), does have its supporting points. Fund managers are usually benchmarked against the performance of other fund managers, thus their having usual downward deviations as compared with the industry as a whole can have consequences in terms of their careers and or rankings, whereas standard returns represent the expected performance of the industry and thus investors in the fund are not negatively impacted (Naik and Maug, 1996). The preceding is referred to as a â€Å"†¦ relative performance evaluation element †¦Ã¢â‚¬  and this represents important factors that thus influence the decisions of the portfolio manager’s on how he allocations assets (Naik and Maug, 1996). The importance of the examination of the operational facets that portfolio managers operate under is important in the discussion of the relationship between trading volume and stock price variations in the London Stock Exchan ge as a result of the huge sums of money that portfolio managers control and how such impacts upon the decisions of other investor areas, professional traders, trading programs, style investors, and private investors as a result of their clout. The impact of the preceding is found in the highly concentrated nature of the fund management industry in the United Kingdom whereby a poor fund performance stands out more than in the United States, thus they stand the risk of losing substantial market share as a result of poor performance (Blake et al, 1998). Thus, while UK portfolio managers have less outside regulatory constraints, the market dynamics with regard to the reduced number of funds thus makes them more risk averse, thereby the decisions they make are viewed as being sound by their peers and the general public (AON, 2005). In equating the relative influence that UK portfolio managers have in the market is reflected by the fact that â€Å"†¦ fund assets for UK companies are around 27% (2004) of the market capitalization† of a company, as opposed to approximately 16% in the United States (AON, 2005). The preceding means, according to an analysis conducted by AON, that the theoretical â€Å"†¦ impact on the share price of UK companies †¦ (by funds is) †¦ 7% †¦Ã¢â‚¬  as compared to the impact of funds on share price in the United States that is estimated at 4%. To gain a perspective on the foregoing, one needs to have a broad picture of the ratio of pension funds in relationship to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, which stood at an estimated 43% in 2004 (Roldos, 2004). The preceding represents significant influence that funds hold over the market and thus the share prices of companies by their investment decisions. Pension funds and other institutional investors have and do play an important part in the â€Å"†¦ substantial growth and structural changes in capital markets †¦Ã¢â‚¬  as a result of their providing a means for smaller investors to pool their risks thereby providing them with increased diversification as well as reduced risk and enhanced return (Roldos, 2004). The impact and influence of UK pension funds represent ownership of 16% of listed UK companies, or  £230 billion (FairPensions, 2007). The growth in the power of pension funds and other institutional funds is and has replaced savings in banks as the means for individuals to build retirement income thus representing the growth in the importance, impact and power of funds in the stock and other asset investment markets (Roldos, 2004). The preceding is a significant in that funds will continue to experience their growth patterns thus increasing their impact in investment vehicles and the corresponding influence over pricing and valuations. The importance, impact and influence of institutional funds, which in this context shall refer to pension as well as other fund types, which are at the core of the important relationship between economic development and finance which entails an understanding of the theories, rules, institutions and systems that interact with and impact financial markets and thus stock performance. One theory, ‘efficient market hypothesis’, is defined by Fama (1970, pp. 383-417) is one whereby security prices always reflect the available information regarding the fiscal standing of a listed company. Fama (1970, pp. 383-417) indicates that there are three types of ‘efficient market hypotheses’; the weak, strong and semi-strong forms. The ‘weak form’ suggests that past returns and or prices are a reflection of future returns and or prices, and this form has seemingly held true as a result of the inconsistencies in the performance of technical analysts (Fama, 1970, pp. 383-417). Fama (1970, pp. 383-417) expanded upon the ‘weak form’ concept, including the predicting of future returns utilizing macroeconomic variables and or accounting tools, with the factor of predictability representing the case for arguments against this form. The ‘strong form’ suggests the prices of securities are a reflection of all available data, even that which resides in the private sector, which is open to question in that the well known insiders trading profits are not immediately or readily incorporated into trading prices as put forth by Seyhun (1986, pp. 1337-1345). The ‘semi-strong’ form puts forth that the prices of securities is a reflection of all public information that is available, thereby indicating that securities are not over or under valued, which means that trading is not capable of generating superior returns (Fama, 1970, pp. 383-417). Pinkerton et al (1996, pp. 247-266) tested this hypothesis through intraday tests concerning the release of public information that provided evidence that such developments impacted the price of stocks within minutes, thereby validating this hypothesis in most instances. However, those changes were a result of selected availability to the information by traders and institutional investors whose buying or selling of stock represented the fuel for corrections, thus not proving the theory to hold true as to public information availability adjustments. This was proven via studies conducted concerning announcements such as earnings, stock splits, divestures, takeovers and capital expenditures whereby stock pricing adjustments, in general, happen in a day as opposed to the theory as put forth by the efficient market hypothesis. The ‘efficient market hypothesis’ makes the strong assertion that since new information is available and thus incorporated into the stock price, that such information (new) thus helps to spark increased buying or selling based upon the nature of such information. Ball and Brown (1968, pp. 159-178) conducted a study in the foregoing area with respect to earnings and indicated that the normal prediction of this area represents accountants calculating income from divisions, cost, production, overhead, depreciation, taxes, research and development, leases, and all manner of computations to arrive at projected earnings for a company based upon the information supplied at a given point in time. New and probable income and or market events are generally keep in the accounting area as scenarios that they can utilize to make adjustments to earning when any of the prior predicted occurrences happen, thus there is a delay in the transference of this new information into real terms, hence the statement of stock price corrections taking about one day to manifest themselves, which is contrary to the efficient markets hypothesis. Muscarella and McConnell (1985, pp. 399-422) in their study of capital expenditures found that unanticipated increases in this ar ea had a positive outcome on the market value of a company, and that the reverse was also true. Thus the announcement of such events first sends analysts scrambling to their computers to work in the new variables, thereby effecting a delay in the stock price, with immediate buying taking place as portfolio managers understanding the plus or minus connotations of such announcements and thus getting in of the anticipated stock rise before it happens, meaning volume drives the price before the figures are known and then the price settles in. Chapter 3 The Process of Buying and Selling Stocks To understand the dynamics with regard to the stock trading process, an understanding of the mechanisms is important. Every security that is traded on the London Stock Exchange has a market maker who thus provides a quote representing the buy and sell price of the stock, with the difference between the bid and offer spread representing where they make their profit (StockExchangeSecrets.com, 2007). Marker makers on the London Stock Exchange utilise the SEAQ, which brokers utilize to find out the current quotation, bid/ask price on a particular security (Pagano and Roell, 1990, pp. 63-115). The SEAQ is the Stock Exchange Automated Quotation System that is driven by quotes whereby it updates on a continues basis the bid and offer quotes established by market makers (Pagano and Roell, 1990, pp. 63-115). However the largest and heaviest traded securities use the SETS, Stock Exchange Electronic Trading System), that is utilized to trade blue chip UK stocks that matches buy and sell orders using a price/time basis (Pagano and Roell, 1990, pp. 63-115). The changes in the bid and offer price are reflective of changes that the market makers use based upon their information about the impacts of stock buying and selling as well as the formulas for a company’s market capitalisation, earnings and other variables. In most instances, the run up in price as a result of buying after an announcement tends to be in line with what the relative value of the announcement has in terms of the company’s position, price earnings ratio, market capitalisation and the weight of the past accomplishments of the company over a long period of time. In other words, when a stock initially goes public, investment bankers utilize highly complex formulas along with valuation methods to determine the value of a company via how many shares are to be offered and the price of those shares (investopedia, 2007). The initial price of a stock is a product of the calculated determination of the varied formulas and the relative attractiveness of a stock in terms of its anticipated public acceptance and build-up through advance interest on the part of institutional and private investors (GlobalInvestment Institute, 2007). As the company settles in to performance and achieving results, the stock price begins to change in what can be termed price adjustments as a result of the establishment of more history on the company and the public’s reaction to it via the laws of supply and demand, meaning the number of shares available and stock price correlations (Hischey, 1985, pp. 326-335). The overall facets determining the price of a stock is a complex set of variables. It represents an estimate that is performed of the cash, that includes the company’s future earnings, which can be extracted from the company factored by the fact that cash in the near term is more valuable that cash represe nting five years hence Chan et al (1990, pp. 255-276). In so doing, estimates are run to reach a determination of the risk involved in the receipt of said future cash, or business, along with the time period or periods necessary to accrue the calculated sum(s) (Brainard and Tobin (1968, pp. 99-122). Technical factors as well as the individual and collective sentiments representative of the market place that can thus be termed supply and demand, with technical factors a representation of facts that can be predicted or quantified. The foregoing represent aspects such as the aforementioned position of the company in its industry sector, the rating of its products, goods and or services relative to said industry, positioning of its competitors, its technical and innovative prowess, historical record in its market sector and effectiveness in combating its rivals, the extent of its products and market penetrations in comparison to its competitors as well as its capabilities and resources to deal with and respond to unforeseen events (Brainard and Tobin (1968, pp. 99-122). An example of a company in a solid current market position with sound prospects for the future is Dyson. Its revolutionary Dual Cyclone vacuum represented the first real innovation in the industry in decades, along w ith its revolutionary design, performance and value. The history of dramatic growth and successful expansion into international markets, coupled with its reputation, earnings and positioning as the top selling manufacturer in Western Europe as well as the leading company in the sales of upright vacuums in the large U.S. market in just 16 years represents an example of the preceding (UGS, 2007). The preceding illustrations concerning trading volume have been undertaken to provide the foundational background for a foundational understanding of stock price variation and trading volume on the London Stock Market. As indicated in the examples, factors, theories and explanations utilized represent a complex set of differing variables that are interconnected, yet separate aspects acting within the same context. And number of separate facets can trigger a surge in trading volume of an upward or downward nature that is usually first tied to investor sentiment, and in the case of institutional investors, their individual calculations, projections and analysis of company positions, financials and other factors. And for all of the preceding, it represents a series of initial educated guesses, backed up by technical information, market savvy, and doses of follow the leader, in the case of institutional firms. Chapter 4 – Relationship Between Trading Volume and Stock Price Variations on the London Stock Exchange The importance, impact and influence of trading volume as a compoent in the determination of stock price variations that has been examined through the effects of institutional investing trading volumes, regulations, the follow the leader and peer perspectives, impact of institutional funds as a factor of company and market percentages, efficient market hypothesis, and how stocks are brought and sold. Stock trading volume is linked to the activities conducted by companies as a component of their reputation, future business and earning prospects, the activities of public relations activities to keep the company in the minds of the investing and general public, the effectiveness of its products, goods and services in relationship with its competitors in its industry, and the relative position of the firm in its life cycle. Just as is the case with products that have what are termed their market introduction phase, period of growth, market maturity and sales decline that varying in lengt h and timing (Day, 1981, pp. 66-67), such is also true for companies. The company life cycle (QuickMBA, 2007) represents the stages that a company passes through which can vary in the period of time it remains in certain stages as a factor of its industry type as well as management innovation. The preceding has importance in an examination of stock price variations as well as trading volume in that newer firms will experience more stock price volatility than mature companies that are settled into their industries, such as General Motors, British Airlines, Marks and Spencer, and ASDA/Wall- Mart, as opposed to Dyson, Cambridge Display Technology and innocent. The relative position of a company in its life cycle standing of initial growth / emerging, rapid growth, mature and declining positioning represents a large difference in how the institutional and well as individual investor will view it in terms of it being speculative, growth, long term investment or income, meaning dividends (investopedia, 2007). The preceding represents facets that are reflecte d in its volatility, as initial growth / emerging companies represent a different investment as opposed to a mature company that has been around for decades and has an established stock price. As the later groups, mature and declining companies do not represent the optimum examples to examine stock price variation and their relationship to trading volume, they will be excluded from this examination, as their stock prices are relatively stable, show minor price variation swings and have steady established volume ranges whereby new developments, announcements, news and events, unless extremely dramatic, do not produce large stock price changes. And as is the case with trading volume, stock price variations can have a number of variables that represent differing factors in determining price at any given time. As explained in Chapter 3, The Process of Buying and Selling Stocks, the internal mechanisms of the London Stock Exchange operates in pretty much the same fashion as other major exchanges in that it utilizes market makers, bid and offer spreads and computerized quotation systems to provide brokers with information. As explained by Hischey (1985, pp. 326 – 335) companies are a product of their past and present industry performance as well as their reputation and appeal to the public representing supply and demand for its stock in correlation to that performance and projections of its performance in the future. Chan et al (1990, pp. 255-276) advises that the preceding also includes technical calculations of risk, and future performance along with cash positions and value. The ability of the company to demonstrate i ts potential to handle stable and unstable economic conditions as well as known and unforeseen events arising from competitors along with marketplace conditions, and its past history in the handling of these variables are also factors that are determinants of stock pricing (Brainard and Tobin, 1968, pp. 99-122). The correlation between the preceding and the effects of trading volume on stock pricing and how this impacts it, variations, represents a context that calls into play the aspects of trading volume referred to in Chapter 2 – Trading Volume, as well as Chapter 3 – The Process of Buying and Selling Stocks, and how these factors impact on stock price variations. Karpoff (1987, pp. 109-126) as well as Rogalski (1978, pp. 268-274) agree on the fact that there is a positive correlation between trading volume and price changes and that volume is related to price change magnitudes. The mixture of distributions hypothesis represents a dynamic method illustrating returns and trading volume when the information process regarding arrival has been identified (Andersen, 1996, pp. 169-204). Volatility in stocks represents the standard deviation of change in price that occurs in a specific time period (martinsewell.com, 2006). The mixtur

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination

The Objective Structured Clinical Examination This essay will discuss my experience of having undertaken the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) where I was asked to write and carry out particular clinical skills testing my competence and knowledge. I will use a reflective model to discuss my experience of having undertaken the OSCE and my thoughts about the feedback I received. The reflective model I have chosen to use is Gibbs model (Gibbs 1988). Gibbs model of reflection includes: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and an action plan (Gibbs 1988). The model will be applied to the essay to help me access what happened, make sense of it, and learn through my own experience by relating theory to practice and backing it up with evidence. The clinical skill of which I was tested on within the OSCE I have chosen to reflect on within this essay is the mechanism of labour. I have chosen this because midwives use the theory of the mechanism of labour to assess progress during labour, and to explain events during labour. Understanding the mechanism of labour has direct implications for midwifery practice (midwifery.org, 2001), so therefore is very important for me to understand and implement in my own practice. The first stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection requires a description of events. I was given a scenario which stated that I was looking after a patient called Jane who had been admitted to labour ward in labour. I was asked to demonstrate the mechanism of labour with the doll and pelvis provided and asked to describe my actions and speak clearly while carrying out the process. Once I had read the scenario I grabbed the doll and pelvis and sat down on the chair provided and placed the dolls head in the pelvis in the transverse position. Then stated that fetal axis pressure and cervical dilatation increases causing the fetus to enter the pelvic cavity and head rotates 1/8 of a circle to lie in the oblique of the pelvis putting the doll in a right occipitoposterior position. With maternal effort in the second stage the baby descends along the curve of carus and is born by extension. When the head is born it restitutes to be in line with the shoulders. The dolls head was born face t o symphisis pubis. Then the shoulders descend and turn with the next contraction to lie in the anterior posterior diameter of the outlet. The head rotates externally and with this there is internal rotation of the shoulders. The baby is then delivered by lateral flexion with the next contraction. Once I had completed my explanation, I was given a second attempt to go through it again. So I did and unknowingly corrected a few mistakes I had made. I am now going to enter into the second stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection, which is a discussion about my thoughts and feelings. Even though this assessment was formative, I was aware that it would show my lecturers as well as myself the level of my competence I had in understanding the mechanism of labour. I knew I would find explaining the mechanism of labour difficult as it contains a lot of information which needs to be explained in an orderly way. I was being examined by Swi Ong a senior lecturer at Middlesex University who is also my link lecturer at chase farm hospital. Being watched made me feel very nervous and under pressure to get it correct. Once I finished my explanation, I was asked to have a second attempt, my first thought was to focus my thoughts as I could hear myself muddle my explanations of events on my first run. After my second attempt I was pleased with myself as I focussed more and corrected some mistakes I had made in my initial attempt. Once I had c ompleted this section of the OSCE, I was not down hearted about my performance but took it as a learning experience which would help me access my own ability and help show areas which I need to improve on. Evaluation is the third stage of Gibbs (1988) model of reflection and requires the reflector to state what was good and bad about the event. Once I had received my feedback from I was aware that research by Workman (1999) suggests that the use of skin cleansing wipes is inconsistent and not necessary in IM injections if the patient appears to be physically clean and an aseptic technique is adopted, along with stringent hand washing by the nurse. It has also been noted that the use of cleansing with an alcohol wipe can cause skin hardening (Mallet Dougherty 2000). The trust policy was to follow guidelines published by the Royal Marsden Hospital (Mallet Dougherty 2000). The Royal Marsden (Mallet Dougherty 2000) advocate the use of skin cleansing wipes, however it is stated within their guidelines that they adopt this because their patients are often immunocompromised, and give evidence of previous studies which indicate that skin cleansing is not normally necessary. Therefore my practice was within the trust protocol. This experience made me think about my attitude towards literature and how it is applied in practice. Burnard (2002) suggests that a learner is a passive recipient of received knowledge, and that learning through activity engages all of our senses. The site used in the IM injection was the gluteus maximus, this the most commonly used site for the administration of IM injections (Greenway 2004, Workman 1999). The gluteus maximus area is both thick and fleshy with a good blood supply (Watson 2000). It is located in the hip area and forms the buttock (Watson 2000). It has been noted by Watson (2000) that the gluteus maximus is near the sciatic nerve and Greenway (2004) suggests that this presents a risk of threat of injury in the administration of IM injections. When I administered the IM injection to the patient, I injected into the gluteus maximus muscle, as the evidence stipulates this is best practice. Stage four of Gibbs (1988) is an analysis of the event, where Gibbs encourages the reflector to make sense of the situation. I will do this by exploring the skill and looking at the evidence underpinning it. An IM injection is the administration of medication into the muscle; there are many reasons why drugs are given via the IM route (Workman 1999). These include a rapid absorption rate, the conscious state of the patient, and the drug effect being altered by ingestion (Mallet Dougherty 2000, Workman 1999). Workman (1999) suggests there are four considerations in giving an injection, the site of injection, the technique, the equipment and the route. On my clinical placement, an orthopaedic outpatient centre, IM injections were administered on an almost daily basis. However Hemsworth (2000) comments that IM injections are rarely used in certain specialities and suggests that, in this case, nurses current practice in IM injections may not be up to date with recent research findings. Through evaluation of the event in question I have become more aware of different practices concerning the use of alcohol wipes in skin cleansing. I am aware that both practices have been researched, but as I develop professionally I am developing my own skills and will not cleanse the skin in future unless the trust policy dictates so or the patient requests me to do so. There is no clear evidence in this area but I will use the literature which is available to justify my actions, and therefore give evidence based care. The reason my mentor suggested using the alcohol wipe could be that she has been qualified for a long time, and practices have changed. In this scenario I have learnt from experience and through experience (Burnard 2002). Following this incident in practice I will now be more prepared to challenge the views of others in relation to my clinical practice. In conclusion, stage five of the Gibbs (1988) model, I am aware that all nurses do not use evidence in the same way and may use different methods but as long as my practice is safe and evidence based then I can practice safely. My future practice will depend on the area in which I am working and I aim to find out the trust protocol concerning clinical procedures before I commence any procedure Within my action plan my aim is to research further into the theory of using alcohol wipes in the administration of IM injections. I am also planning to have a discussion with the qualified nurses on the subject of skin cleansing. In conclusion my reflection skills have developed through the production of this essay. Using a model of reflection has helped me to structure my thoughts and feelings appropriately. My level of awareness concerning evidence based practice, and its importance, has been enhanced with the use of critical reflection. My competence, within this clinical skill, has been further developed and I now feel that my personal and professional development is progressing. Using this reflective model has helped me to realise that my learning is something which I must be proactive in. Furthermore as a student nurse I have recognised that reflection is an important learning tool in practice. Description; Feelings; Evaluation; Analysis; Conclusion; Action Plan