ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction University faculties are dependent on information and instructional technologies. Access to student records, enrollment statistics, research databases, e-mail, and list servers, and multimedia classrooms is an everyday activity for faculty members across the country. In addition to the countless information systems and sophisticated software applications, numerous universities and faculties are offering distance education technologies as an alternative to address student needs, such as convenience and geographical disparities (Brownson & Harriman, 2000). While distance education has been in use for over a century (Brownson & Harriman, 2000), most recently, the introduction and swift acceptance of the World Wide Web has offered new possibilities for teaching and learning. The National Center for Education Statistics (2003) reported that 56% of all 2- and 4-year institutions offered distance education courses. More expressively, 90% of these institutions used asynchronous Internet-based instruction, and 43% used synchronous Internet-based instruction. Some faculty have been early adopters of distance education, while other faculty have been unwilling or discouraged to incorporate this modernization into their instruction (Carr, 2001). No matter what pace faculty members have decided on to accept these technologies, many universities have already allocated funds and resources for distance education. Carr (2001) has described the significant university resources that have been allocated to support distance education. These resources not only support the courses but are also designed to aid faculty professional development. Professional development at universities has included methods to assist faculty in improving course design and educational methods, as well as in becoming familiar with and applying educational technologies (Koehler et al., 2004), such as distance education tools. Faculty development centers One of the primary methods, technological professional development for university faculty, has been implemented through faculty development centers (Shapiro, 1998). Faculty development centers are housed on-site at institutions and are supported by a single institution. These centers regularly offer instructional support for university faculty to develop and improve instruction. Some supports and resources can take the form of specialists, such as instructional designers, graphic designers, teaching assistants, library media specialists, and audio/video producers (Lee, 2001). Instructional technology support from faculty development centers is often implemented through
Introduction Toyota Motor Corporation was founded in 1937 by a gentleman called Kichiro Toyora. The company has been named as one of the most admired company dealing in cars for a myriad of years. The company made a serious mistake in 1960s after it had produced Toyopet. This was labeled as a defective car which was unsuited for hilly terrains in the US. The company later came strong and has since managed to be at the heart of a myriad of Americans with various car innovations, creational of job opportunities through the process of building assembly lines in different parts of the world specifically in the US. Currently, the company has continued to top the truck (Tacoma), sedan (Camry), mid range vehicle (Camry) and Van (Sienna) markets.. (Fujimoto 1999) The company has the largest share in the global auto mobile industry due to its high outstanding financial records, market, areas of opportunity and finally data. In 2010, the company employed 300,734 people across the world and it was ranked as second in the automobile production in 2010 in terms of production. By 2012, Toyota reported that it had manufactured almost 200 Million vehicles. Toyota is currently traded in Osaka, Fukuoka, Sapporo and Tokyo. The company is foreign listed in the London and New York Stock Exchange. (Fujimoto 1999) Strategy (or combination of strategies) used by Toyota to turn it into a powerhouse The company was able to change its image in 60s and 70s attracting million of customers across the world. The company went greatest upgrade when they introduced the kaizen principle. This was a philosophy which saw increased improvements in the company. The company is important as it’s seldom for the time and progress to remain still. It is the largest producer in the world and has remained true to the Kaizen principle. The company also applied the two major strategies and principles which were relevant to Porter’s goals. According to Porter, the strength of the company falls into two major strategies; law costs and differentiation. (Nemoto & Lu 1987) Going by the strength, the company can keep four other strategies; differentiation, cost leadership strategy, differentiation focus strategy and low cost strategy. The company had a marketing strategy which made it possible in the conquering of the world market though facing stiff competition from German companies such as Volkswagen. The company took the steps towards the prevention of promotion of the production of the Volkswagen in the US. The Japanese experts conducted thorough investigations of the causes of high competitiveness of the cars from German and high to curb the competition superior than those of the competitors. The company followed the policy towards the introduction of the car to the whole world. The company made a car which was better than Volkswagen in terms of the car interior and also the price of the same. To what extent has Toyota’s strategy (or combination of strat
Let Justice be done though the heavens may fall. The movie Gattaca presents both a Utopia, for the genetically superior ‘valids’, and a Dystopia, for the normal average ‘invalids.’ The movie itself revolves around Vincent, an invalid who rejects the view that an invalid has no place in Gattaca, the space program. Aside from the stereotypical man against the world presentation, Vincent endures many challenges before he obtains his fulfillment in the end, the movie is also a commentary on the dangers of ‘customized’ genetically-tailored society. This paper will be a review of the movie from a deontological perspective as it will focus on the rightness or wrongness of Vincent’s actions rather than the rightness or wrongness of the consequences (Olson 343). In the movie genetically superior ‘valids’ are the new uber-class in society, they occupy all the best jobs and top ranks because of their genetic superiority. People have long since abandoned the vagaries of natural selection in favor of creating tailor-made babies who do not have the congenital flaws of their parents. Anton is one example of this new superior class of people. His genetic superiority is obvious, compared to Vincent, who is a natural-born, he is obviously better. At age 8 he is already taller than Vincent at age 10. He has perfect eyesight while Vincent needs glasses. More importantly, he does not have the congenital heart problem Vincent has. Poor Vincent and the rest of the ‘love children’ are condemned to be the new under-class of society confined to jobs like custodian services and denied the opportunity to advance in life. The swimming scenes between Vincent and his brother Anton are symbolic of the race between the genetically inferior and normal ‘in-valids’ and the genetically engineered ‘valids’ in virtually all the races Anton inevitably wins because he is superior in every way. Not only is he taller, stronger, and hardier than his brother he also does not have Vincent’s congenital heart problem. But in the last two occasions that they swam, the last race they had before Vincent went to live his fraudulent life to get into Gattaca, and the race after Anton discovered that Vincent was the suspected murderer, Vincent won. Vincent famously says ‘I wasn’t saving anything for the trip home’ and ‘we are closer to the other side’ when Anton asks how he could keep going. In the end, Vincent seems to have outsmarted Anton. However, to me, it was more a triumph of the human spirit over the obvious defeat of the human body. This was the director’s way of saying tha
Abstract The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act assume that all people without exception are full-fledged, regardless of the state of their health and the presence of certain physical disabilities. Disability is understood as a certain condition in which, as a result of a health disorder, a person faces certain social barriers in the implementation of his abilities and capabilities. The elimination of such barriers of a technical, psychological, organizational nature is recognized as a way to resolve the problems of persons with disabilities. It should affect the degree of adaptation of the surrounding world to a person with disabilities. The low level of awareness of specialists in working with personnel and staff recruitment can serve as a serious barrier to the competitiveness of workers with disabilities in the labor market. It also includes the psychological readiness of the employer to cooperate with an employee with a disability, and the lack of financial and organizational capacity to adapt to working conditions. Introduction The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a government agency which ensures that federal civil right laws are enforced and administered. The agency possesses the authority and responsibility to investigate and analyze the charges of employment discrimination. Discrimination can be based on age, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, or disability. Disability discrimination is within U.S. EEOC’s jurisdiction, and it is a major part of its activities. Overview The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act are the laws that protect people with disabilities from discrimination in the workplace due to their condition. EEOC administers and enforces these laws in order to eliminate any disability-based discrimination. In addition, the agency uses a preventative approach by technical assistance and education programs (“Disability discrimination,” 2020). Freedom of labor or the right to free labor acts as one of the fundamental human rights, having important applied value, since the bulk of the population provides for their livelihood needs through the implementation of particular labor activity. Therefore, equal access to work and equal pay has been set at the head of socio-economic policy in all countries of the world. Given this, it seems appropriate to study the regulatory framework governing labor relations of persons with disabilities. First of all, it is necessary to determine what is meant by the term person with disabilities and disability. The term “disabled person” is used extremely rarely, in view of the fact that it implies that the state recognizes that a person has sufficiently serious physical and mental health disorders. It entails the provision of appropriate legal status, that is, disability. This is by no means the actual state of health of such a person, and other concepts are used instead of the indicated term (Neumark, Song, & Button,
Introduction Each profession has a history to refer to. In student affairs, just like other professions, we do have a collective sense of how the profession came to be what it is now- our values, customs traditions, and beliefs. This history defines us and reveals our identity, serves as an anchor, provides direction (Hamrick, Evans & Schuh, 2002). The contemporary context of higher education and student affairs has influenced my understanding of historical events and by the meaning, I attach to them- an appreciation of history and context helps me understand the ideas, values, and events that shape the practice. In my many years of academic pursuance, I have noticed student affairs in various institutions of higher learning appear to be organizationally separated from other units, such as academic and departmental affairs, within the same institution. However, in practice, this organizational separation appears to occur mainly in papers, with many issues related to students, transverse more often than not across the typically many units of these institutions. According to Winston, Creamer & Miller, cited in Hirt (2006), the best and the most effective institutions fully integrate student, academic, and business affairs in a manner that focuses all resources on a primary goal of higher education – student learning and personal development- and involves every organizational unit fully in the achievement of its mission (p.318). The ability to get things done well and being successful depends on the effectiveness of the leadership, not the organization (Hirt, 2006). The expansion of the post-secondary system, increasing evidence of the market and non-market effects of education, the generally rapidly changing world, and the increasing complexity of education have created a phenomenon where the principles and beliefs anchored in the work of student affairs educators are seen as the principles to be redefined to suit the contemporary situation (Janosik, 2003; Hirt, 2006). However, it must be noted that the rapid change in education has even increased the need for the adoption of these principles and beliefs. Young, 1996, cited in Janosik (2003) identified the core values of the profession as individuation, community, equity, and justice. Notably, these values have been rooted in the history of the profession and continue to inform the practice to date. According to Miller & Winston (1991), effective leadership of student affairs personnel relies upon his or her ability to communicate core values in various institutional contexts. In this perspective, the role of educator presumes that these values are accurately applied in the educator’s relationship with students, programs available as well as role modeling (M
The Trobriand social and economic life is influenced by exchanges and gifts that occur at different stages of a person’s life. Women play a key role in the shaping this culture. In this society, yams are a symbol of wealth and are exchanged in marriages, birth rituals, offered as gift by chiefs to commoners, given as gifts by a brother’s wife to the husband among others. In almost all the rituals and economic activities, women play an imperative role. In this study, the role of different types of gifts and exchanges were examined in relation to gender and the role played by women. The Melanesian social life entails the movement of an individual from one social life to another. In this society, the passage from one stage to the other involves a complicated exchange of gifts with other members of the society. The exchange of goods and services is mainly manifested in various cultural forms such as gardening, marriage, birth rituals and death. The whole society is controlled by the issuance and receiving of gifts from one member of the community to another (Ember and Melvin 8). Generally, in Trobriand sociality, gifts are a way of life. In this essay, two main aspects of the Melanesian society are studied. First, the study explores on exchange of materials that occur during marriage and gardening. The study then determines the different relationships in the Trobriand culture and ways through which gifts were used to cement these relationships. The role of women during exchanges is also critically analyzed. As aforementioned, the exchange of gifts plays an imperative role in the Trobriand sociality. All activities in this society are controlled by a complicated system involving the exchanges of gifts and other items of trade. In addition, the exchange and giving of gifts is further dictated by the age, sex, gender and passage from one stage to another. The Kula exchange or trade plays an imperative role in linking the different islands in Trobriand communities. In this trade, men and sometimes women travel from one island to the other exchanging yams for other valued commodities. Kula exchange act as a link between individuals living on the different islands. In the Kula exchange, men and women travel in a canoe to other islands where they exchange arm shells and shell necklaces. These shells are high valued in Trobriand culture. The Kula exchange follows a distinctive process with arm shells revolving counterclockwise while necklaces circulate in a clockwise direction among these islands. This trade started long time ago and helps in bidding distant Melanesian communities together (McDowel 5). According to malinoski , the Kula exchanges can be depicted as “give for the sake of giving”. Though giving is symbolic in this society, the act of giving gifts and Kula exchanges is not only controlled by cultural values, rather, through these m
The TED talk by Myriam Sidibe is quite a powerful call for action, as well as an illustration of the link between the field of epidemiology and healthcare emphasis on the individual. The speaker stresses that washing hands with soap is one of the most effective interventions preventing diverse diseases (Sidibe, 2014). Sidibe (2014) notes that hand-washing prevents child diarrhea by half and respiratory infections by third, which is an unprecedented impact. This simple act common for the vast majority of individuals across the globe that is also taken for granted can keep children alive and all age groups healthier. Washing hands is an example of individual behavioral patterns referring to personal hygiene. Children are taught to wash hands with soap at an early age, and this habit is promoted during their entire academic life (and beyond). At the same time, this individual behavioral pattern has a far-reaching effect related to the field of epidemiology. Various diseases are preventable, and even such a simple intervention as hand-washing can be instrumental in ensuring public health. Each individual can contribute to the prevention of epidemics by maintaining proper hand hygiene. Following hand-washing recommendations is specifically cruicial in communities characterized by a high population density. The most recent COVID pandemics can be seen as an illustration of the relevance of appropriate hand hygiene. A lot of effort is being made to make sure that people develop the proper hand-washing habit from an early age. The results of this approach can be seen nowadays as people manage to address epidemics of infectious diseases, although some crises (such as COVID-19 pandemics) still happen. Hence, it is clear that each person can have a significant impact on public health and the development of their community and country. Reference Sidibe, M. (2014). The simple power of hand-washing [Video]. TED. Web.
The purpose of this windshield survey was to conduct an overall analysis of Maywood, IL, and determine strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and possible threats that affect the community. I obtained information via a windshield survey, where I drove through the community and made personal observations. I also talked to several community members and used various websites as additional sources of information. Vital statistics, such as poverty rates and population overview, were obtained via searches on the Internet. Maywood has quite a long but, in general, unremarkable history. It was founded on April 6, 1869, and became a proper town on October 22, 1881 (“Maywood, Illinois,” n.d.). The most famous part of Maywood’s history is World War II, as it became home to the 33 rd Illinois National Guard Tank Company. Later, 120 men from Maywood became a part of the 192 nd Tank Battalion and were captured by the Japanese in the Battle of Bataan. Most of them died during the infamous Bataan Death March, and only around 40 survivors managed to return home (“Maywood, Illinois,” n.d.). Except for that, Maywood remained a small, humble community throughout its history. Nowadays, Maywood, Illinois, is a western suburb conveniently located on Interstate 290, just 10 miles west of Chicago, IL. Although Maywood is a small town that consists of 23 blocks divided into North and South neighborhoods, they have several significant problems. In my survey, I spotted multiple warning signs of decay, and my observations have statistical backing. Poverty, healthcare situation, and public safety are the main areas of concern. I represented my findings of Maywood and related data in the table below. Neighborhood or suburb surveyed: Maywood, Illinois Boundaries
Introduction Leadership is a subject commonly taught in business classes. There is a direct correlation between effective leadership and organizational effectiveness and profitability. However, leadership is involved, in one way or another, in all aspects of organizational behavior. Educational institutions are no exception to this. Unlike in for-profit organizations however, their objectives are harder to outline. Educational organizations serve the nation rather than seek profit, their practices, while retaining a modicum of similarity, vary from one facility to another. The teaching process is largely determined by professionals in the field of education. In many ways, educational facilities resemble government institutions more so than business organizations. The commercialization of education is changing this trend. In the US, the lack of government support forces universities and colleges to seek funds from other sources – be it from interested businesses, or from student tuition payments. Programs are being focused on preparing the students for the competitive environment of the labor market. The leadership model currently in use in the majority of educational facilities is the transactional leadership model. It has been around for many years. The model suggests a simple working structure of effort-reward with leaders maintaining the status quo. The rising trend in the past ten to fifteen years is transformational leadership, which focuses more on individual needs of every employee, beyond the desire for monetary rewards. The purpose of this paper is to study the article titled “Transformational and Transactional Leaders in Higher Education” written by Lloyd Moman Basham, analyze its key ideas, compare them to three similar articles, highlight similarities and differences, and outline prospective directions for further research. Transformational and Transactional Leaders in Higher Education – Key Ideas Although Basham does not clearly state which system is more beneficial in an educational environment, the narrative clearly speaks in favor of transformational leadership. The author analyses and compares both systems, their strengths, and weaknesses. The key ideas he puts forth are as followed:   * Transactional leadership usually focuses on short-term goals, is quick to establish, and is highly hierarchical. It works on two principles – contingent rewards and management by exception. The employees have a clear understanding of what they are expected to do, which does not promote creativity since there is no need to perform better. The system does not take into account the importance of self-actualization, which leads to decreased satisfaction and decreased job performance (Basham, 2012).   * Transformational leadership is value-driven. It allows a degree of dispersal of power in order to promote leadership to all members, in contrast to following orders from the top. It emphasizes the