Participant-Observer Exercise Essay Example for Free

Participant-Observer Exercise Essay First of all, I am grateful to all class members and our instructor for the experience that I was able to acquire during this course. This is a good example of experiential learning – here we all had opportunities to transform our theoretical knowledge into real life experience. It really proved effective. I may also note that the last group engagement exercise did not disprove my previous hypotheses: with time and the experience of joint work we all got more confident about the tasks, and with the raise of confidence our productivity increased. I think we all got to know each other better and it increased the level of confidence. My hypothesis for this week is: â€Å"Group work gets real meaning and becomes more productive when group members bring in their personal insights and personal experiences instead of confining themselves to theorizing and relying on common sense. † At first, we knew each other too little to be open and share our personal experience. With time, we got to know each other better and gradually became more relaxed about sharing our thoughts. I think it had a positive impact on our performance. It helped to provide more examples of the concepts we presented. Our task was to discuss experiential learning and how it assists in exercising leadership and understanding group dynamics. We focused on several chosen principles in our presentation, and each of us was able to vitalize theory by referring to specific examples. This level of openness was quite impossible during the first exercise. Personal insights helped us all better understand theory and make a more interesting presentation. In fact, this experience once again proves Principle 9 that we discussed in our presentation: â€Å"The more supportive, accepting, and caring the social environment, the freer a person is to experiment with new behaviors, attitudes, and action theories† (Johnson Johnson, 2009, p. 51). Since all were open and ready to introduce a personal insight, we felt the environment to be rather supportive and accepting. As a result, we felt more confident and could communicate our thoughts freely. It provided greater value to our group work and helped to fulfill our task more successfully. References Johnson, D. W. , Johnson, F. P. (2009). Joining together: Group theory and group skills. 10th ed. Boston, MA: Allyn Bacon.

Feminist Readings of Weltys The Golden Apples :: Endora Welty The Golden Apples

Feminist Readings of Welty's The Golden Apples Jennifer Thomas writes in her article about a study of short fiction done by Carol Ann Johnston. The study targets feminist readings of Welty's writings and focuses primarily on female characters of her works. When discussing The Golden Apples, Thomas determines it was the 'tour de force', or exceptional achievement, in Johnston's study of Welty's collections. In Johnston's study she writes of the 'self-realized women' of The Golden Apples, using character Virgie Rainey as her example. The critical article contends that in Johnston's study, her selection of contemporary critics Daniale Pitavy-Souques and Patricia Yaeger are excellent choices to include since they had recently assessed Welty within currents of modernism and feminism. She then goes on to critique Johnston for oversimplification of the terms of the stories she is analyzing by citing an example from "June Recital": An angry old man flaps open his bathrobe, exposing himself to young girls taking their piano lessons in "June Recital," a display that provides, according to Johnston "a blatant show of phallic strength, [as] he attempts to silence the female voice."In the context of the story, however, the narrator freely voices her estimate of this "old turkey gobbler" and suggests he poses no such potent threat. Some of Johnston's most convincing readings concern Welty's identification with her characters, refuting the assumption that the heroine is the author's stand-in. By keeping her eye on the writer of "June Recital," Johnston astutely reminds us: "Welty identifies with Miss Eckhart, but she writes Virgie's story. (Thomas) I strongly agree with Johnston's statement that Welty has identification to her characters, whether intentional or not. She notes that although she believes Welty identifies with Miss Eckhart in "June Recital", she writes the story for Virgie. Consistently in her stories in The Golden Apples, she writes of sheltered individuals within a close community. Johnston addresses only the identification Welty has to her characters, instead of digging deeper into relational issues. I find it fascinating that in The Golden Apples, Welty paints a picture of Miss Eckhart's life as being ideal, free to follow her own passion and art, which in Miss Eckhart's case was her piano teaching, or in Welty's life, her photography and even her writing. And at the same time, Miss Eckhart has failed relationships and an overall lonely sense about her.

Identify and Evaluate Marketing Opportunities

STUDENT ASSESSMENT GUIDE Unit of competency name| Identify and evaluate marketing opportunities| Unit of competency number| BSBMKG501B| Unit Purpose On successful completion of this unit you should be able to actively seek out and assess marketing opportunities in terms of viability and suitability to the organisation. You should also be able to turn the assessed marketing opportunities into reality – by scoping the implementation process and getting buy in from management and other key stakeholders for your opportunity. Specifically, you will be able to:Identify marketing opportunities Investigate marketing opportunities Evaluate required changes to current operations Reporting of assessment outcomes Your result will be recorded and reported to you as Distinction or Credit or Competent or Not yet Competent. If you are doing this unit in a course which is graded (Pass, Credit or Distinction) and this is one of the units which contribute to the course grade, your result in this unit will be assigned a nominal mark which will be used to calculate your course grade. Requirements to successfully complete this unit of competency IntroductionAssessment is a process that will require you to provide evidence that you have achieved the knowledge and skills required in this unit of competency. Successful completion of this unit is based on the assessment of your demonstrated competence in a workplace or simulated workplace environment. How do you complete this unit? You can complete this unit by demonstrating competence. To do this you must provide evidence that you can: Prepare a written report which identifies, evaluates and ranks a number of Marketing Opportunities Prepare an opportunity scope document that clearly describes the proposed execution of the marketing opportunitySynthesise the scope, viability, risks and forecast outcomes of the proposed marketing opportunity into a persuasive presentation to gain â€Å"buy-in† for the marketing opportunity What evidence will you be asked to supply? You may be requested to: 1. Identify and Evaluate Marketing Opportunities and submit a Written Report Identify and evaluate marketing opportunities. Conduct a SWOT analysis and identify four (4) marketing opportunities. Evaluate each of the four identified opportunities using a range of metrics – for example financial measures; marketing measures; customer impact methods – and competitor response analysis.Rank the marketing opportunities and identify the key opportunity. (This marketing opportunity will be explored further in the next task) 2. Write a Scope Document and Plan the execution of a marketing opportunity This would include: establishing the marketing opportunity objective, analysing and assessing organizational preparedness; designing a marketing opportunity implementation schedule; establishing a financial analysis, projections and forecasted results for the marketing opportunity; designing suitable marketing contr ols; establish a clear understanding to the key isks involved in the marketing opportunity and the strategies for managing these risks 3. Provide a persuasive Marketing Opportunity Presentation Present your marketing opportunity. This would include synthesizing your marketing opportunity framework into communicable pieces, where you would impart objectives and expected outcomes; define the risks; clarify changes that will need to be made and communicate the viability of making changes to current operations. Your peers should act as â€Å"managers and key stakeholders† providing feedback on the presentation of your marketing opportunity.Your teacher will advise you of the specific assessment requirements for this unit. This is a graded unit. To receive a PASS grade you must: Identify several marketing opportunities using a SWOT analysis Analyse and then evaluate marketing opportunities using one marketing and one financial measure Prioritise marketing opportunities – ra nk marketing opportunities and identify key opportunities. Establish a clear understanding of the key risks involved in the marketing opportunity and the strategies for managing these risks.Scope and plan the execution of one marketing opportunity Prepare a good quality written report and scope document Present your marketing opportunity to your peers To receive a CREDIT grade you must: Meet all the criteria of a pass grade Identify marketing opportunities using a greater number of sources and areas of growth eg international growth Apply entrepreneurial and creative thinking frameworks to the identification of opportunities Use a more extensive number of evaluation methods – including finance, marketing, customer and risk method.Demonstrate advanced skills in prioritising the various opportunities. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the concept of risk and how it applies to the evaluation of opportunity Prepare a professional quality written report and scope document Provi de a professional quality presentation which demonstrates high level presentation techniques and is accompanied by visual/audio aids. Address audience questions and garner feedback from peers in regard to the presentation of the opportunity To receive a DISTINCTION grade you must: Meet all the criteria of a credit gradeDemonstrate an advanced ability to plan, organise and control market opportunity analysis, evaluation and scoping Produce clearly superior identification and evaluation of opportunities Draw on an immense number of sources and areas of growth to support market opportunity identification Clearly show an application of and understanding of entrepreneurial and creative thinking frameworks and how they should be applied to the identification of marketing opportunities Evaluate every opportunity using a range of methods – finance, marketing, customer and risk methods.Present reports of desk-top publishing quality with complete audio/visual support for presentation. Respond to peer feedback in a professional and detailed manner What you will need Your teacher will advise you of any resources, including text books, which you will require for this unit. More about assessment For information about assessment in TAFE please see â€Å"Every Student's Guide to Assessment in TAFE NSW† which is available on the TAFE internet site at: http://www. tafensw. edu. au/courses/about/assessment_guide. htm Additional details for local assessment arrangements

Why I Am Brave - 1092 Words

Kidnapped I woke up to a screaming voice and realized instantly it is Jennifer’s. She kept screaming for me â€Å" ANTHONY† â€Å"ANTHONY,† but I couldn t move I was tied to the bed and by the time I got free Jennifer was long gone. I called the police right away and got dressed. I grabbed the keys and got into my car, but before I left I grabbed a pistol from my drawer and was following the car. The air smelling like pine; when I lost them and found Jennifer s phone on the ground I got nervous. I asked the man in a nearby pawn shop which way they went and he pointed to the right so I got all my gear together and knew I had to save her know matter what the risk. I was 21 and had a tiny bit of facial hair. I had a small mustache†¦show more content†¦Now that I am in and very close to Jennifer I accidently kicked a barrel over. Everyman looked at me lifting up their guns and firing. I dove behind a shelve trying to stay down. I shot at each man, but I coul dn t hit any. They got closer and I hit two men in the chest. Both of the men fell hard to the ground. The other men moved in closer two with guns and one running straight for me with a knife. I grabbed a nearby pipe and broke his hand. He fell crying out with pain. I got shot in the hip by one of the other men. I ran for better protection, but I slipped on the floor. All three of the men left walked up to me. The one with the knife lunged his knife deep into my right leg. I screamed hard. When I saw my pistol I few feet ahead I reached for it and fired at the kidnappers, but ran out of bullets. Two more men were dead that left me and the knifer. I grabbed the pipe again. He lunged at me tearing the right side of my stomach, but he was vulnerable and I brought down the pipe to his back and left him with a loud crunch. I limped over to jennifer and untied her, she hugged me right away. We got up walking away until an echoing gunshot was heard and I fell to the ground. Jennifer screamed and was trying to help me up, but it is no use. I tried to move myself, but I was in too much pain. Jennifer grabbed my phone and ran away screaming. She called the cops and told them