The Purpose of Initial Assessment and What Kind of Methods Could Be Used Essay Example for Free

The Purpose of Initial Assessment and What Kind of Methods Could Be Used Essay The purpose of an initial assessment is to firstly, make sure that a learner can enter the programme of study at a level that is appropriate to them. Secondly, these assessments also allow the learner to be able to plan their individual achievable learning goals. These initial assessments will become the framework of learners ILP’s (individual Learning Plans). They will also ensure that the learner provider and tutor can identify the gaps in learning sooner rather than later. It should go without saying that providers want the best for learners, it’s just as important that learners should know right from the start that they are entitled to the best for themselves†. (readingroom ,online) This demonstrates the importance of the initial assessment and its results have on an individual learner’s development. Initial Assessment are what they are, they are just the beginning and become a tailor made plan which then becomes a vital part of the teaching and learning for the learner and provider alike. â€Å"Assessment helps to set clear expectations for standards and achievement. CFBT, 2011,p10 . ) Initial assessment therefore ensures that there can be progression as it also allows learners themselves to see and develop on strengths and weaknesses from the outset. One can also suggest that these initial assessments are a motivational tool too, so that not only can the provider plan for the end goal but also that a learner can readily see that the results from initial assessments are used to determine achievable goals thus seeing that the overall course outcomes are achievable. There are several methods in which initial assessments can be ascertained. An initial interview gives a basic knowledge and is seen as a good indicator about the suitability of the learner, for example, what they have achieved in the past, what they want to achieve but as these are sometimes done prior to qualification results, this would not always produce a true reflection of a learner’s ability. Therefore a programme of induction following the interview and acceptance would ensure the learner can be fully assessed and ascertain not only the level they are working to but also any help that is required is in place from the beginning. Skills based testing is a common initial assessment tool. Learners take online or written assessments and the results ascertain their levels they are currently working on, furthermore specific diagnostic test homes in on the gaps in their skills. This method is effective and can give providers and tutors a general scale of ability, however one can argue that the results can also be misleading , for example if a learner has rushed or guessed part the assessment then the results would not be true reflection of the learners ability. BKSB is one of these online skills providers, used by many colleges. BKSB cover learner’s initial skills testing in literacy, numeracy and ICT, as well as diagnostic. However it can be argued that whilst convenient, for example, instant results and no marking by tutors and also identifies the specific subject knowledge and gaps , it can miss special needs problems such as dyslexia. Another initial assessment undertaken may include looking at a learner preferred learning style – commonly known as VAK , visual,( seeing and reading), auditory ( listening and speaking and kinaesthetic ( Touching and doing) . These are basically different ways of learning and be achieved through completion of questionnaires. This assessment is vital and is an integral part in the learner and tutors planning. Ensuring that your learners preferred style is embedded in the lesson plan (differentiation) can ensure that the learner’s motivation is continued. There are no right and wrong answers but in some cases there is not always a clear result, many learners may have a mix. However this could be seen as a positive when teaching a larger group as you can embed all three learning styles ensuring that a larger number will participate therefore keeping learners motivated and achieving goals and also progressing. Arguably you could suggest that the most important part of initial assessment is giving feed back to the learner of the results. This as we have said previously allows the learner to set themselves achievable goals. They have possibly already learnt things about themselves that they didn’t know. For example what their preferred style is. The advantage of this feedback session is that both learner and tutor have set clear manageable targets and goals. This is turn can be seen as a motivational tool for the learner as they have been part of the process and know what is expected from them. This also instils the motivation for the teacher to make sure that the learner can achieve their goals Regular reviews, target setting and referring to the initial assessments target setting is vital in ensuring a learner remains motivated, Learners will achieve if they can see themselves progressing. Smart targets therefore are an achievable and motivational tool as it will ensure that targets are met in an expected time frame. According to Reid (2007 pg. 14) motivation should be intrinsic, which means that a learner should be self-motivated. If the initial assessments have been managed effectively then they become the perfect platform for the Reid’s ideas, as the assessments are set up to insure that a learner as contributed to the target setting. Reid also states that ‘a car will not run without fuel, therefore a child won’t learn without motivation. (Reid 2007 pg. 4). Although aimed at younger children the ethos is the same in that even older learners need to be fed relevant facts in order to progress and reach goals. One could also suggest though that the older the learner is the harder it is to motivate as in some circumstances a lower self-esteem is more evident than in younger children, for example those leaners within foundation learning projects for example. If one uses foundation learning as an example, then motivating them becomes a juggling act as you have to employ strategies that would work over a mixed ability group. Characteristics of a group also play an important part of motivation. One main point is setting out a clear aim and objective of a day’s lessons. Learners then have an expectation of what is expected from them. Tutors must ensure there is a mix of learning skills. For example, the shyer, less confident learners might not want to join in with the speaking and listening task but then if you link it up with a task the quieter ones can excel at then you can continue to keep motivation going whilst also covering more challenging areas. This also is ensuring that you are achieving their goals but also their learning style patterns as stated in the leaners initial assessments. Feedback is vital and is especially important when reaching the end of a session or a unit of work and must include the completion of any smart targets reached, and then new ones to be set with the leaner thus detailing progress and keep motivation going. To ensure learners are kept motivated and achieving their goals, then there are of course many other strategies and theories. However the vital point remains that with the initial assessments and subsequent ILR’s, regular reviews with providers or tutors learners will hopefully continue to motivate themselves by seeing that they have achieved goals set, furthermore with every new set of new goals learners can see the on-going progression and therefore motivation to succeed continues.

Essay --

The first major battle of the civil war was fought near Bull Run River in Virginia, and was later named the First Battle of Bull Run. The fight was started when General Irvin McDowell planned on marching his Union soldiers into the southern capital, putting an immediate end on the rebellion. Confederate soldiers led by General P. G. T. Beauregard met his forces near the Bull Run River. The Confederate forces won the battle with the Union having 2,896 casualties and losses while the Confederacy only had 1,982. This battle marked the beginning of the war and put the Confederacy to a good start at winning succeeding battles. After years of the Confederacy winning the majority of the battles came a turning point. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought from July 1 to July 3 in 1863. The battle was fought in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in an attempt to slop Lee’s advances into Northern territory. This is one of the first major battles that the Union won. Both sides lost around the same amount of soldiers injured or killed. The Union had a total of 23,055 lost while the Confederacy had 23,231. This win has since been marked the turning point of the war and was a huge moral booster for the Union army. After around a year of battling the Union had an idea to split the South in two and finally end this brutal war. This action was named Sherman’s March after the leader of the campaign, General William T. Sherman. The campaign lasted little over a month starting on November 15, 1864, and ending December 21. Sherman started his march in Atlanta, Georgia and ended on the on the coast in Fort McAllister. The idea behind this tactic was to split the South in half and burning everything in his path, therefore destroying all moral left in the Confedera... ... muskets came the first reliable and maneuverable long-range weapon of the time. The grooves or â€Å"rifling† in the barrel caused the projectile to spin, allowing the bullet to have increased accuracy instead of just hoping you could hit your target. The earlier muskets were similar to a knuckleball in baseball; the lack of spin in a certain direction causes the ball to move around in the air unexpectedly. Because these new rifled muskets could be accurate at a far greater range, the army started to create snipers. These snipers would look for the highest-ranking official they could find on the battlefield and keep working their way down, killing the most important people in hopes of destroying their leadership and creating panic among the other soldiers. Seeing this Gatling gun during the Civil War would have instantly struck fear into any enemy on the battlefield.

Defining Security

Defining Security â€Å"Security† comes from a broader subject referred to International Relations which is the study of all political cooperation that occurs between states that have their own government, international organizations with or without government influence, and some wealthy separate individuals. â€Å"Security Studies concerns itself with a sub-set of those political interactions marked by their particular importance in terms of maintaining the security of actor† (Hough 2008: 2).Depending on the emergency of security of an actor will depend how a government or country will act on the security measure. For example, concerns relating to health and rights of the people will be at top on the global political agenda compare to other events such as natural disasters or mass killings are rarely seen as security concerns. It might be of importance to the people that these events are happening to, but not to the people not being affected. There are four main paradi gms of International Relations that affect issues in security.Those paradigms are Realism, Pluralism, Marxism, and Social Constructivism. Realism is the idea that states should be self-centered, competitive, and should look after themselves and not trust any other states. The state should do anything within its reach to expand its power in wherever possible being in military or economic sectors in order to secure themselves and be at the top. Realists tend to favor governments that separate the high and low politics and best serve the national interest.Low politics such as health issues, welfare, and other issues of that sort should be dealt at a domestic level and is separate from high politics, such as war. The idea globalization in the 60’s and 70’s took International Relations to a different perspective because not only did they have to deal with military power issues but now they had economic power issues to worry about. That’s where Neo-Realism developed. Neo-realism still maintained the self-centered approach on the states but also included the idea to expand their powers beyond the sector of military and focus on to the state’s economy.In addition to Realism, another paradigm that affected issues in security was Pluralism. Pluralism was developed from a group of scholars that believed that Neo-realism had developed far enough from Realism. Pluralists believed that the pursuit of military power and economic power by a state, which was the idea derived from the thinking of Realism was too simple. â€Å"Pluralists, as the term implies, consider that a plurality of actors, rather than just states, exert influence on the world stage† (Hough 2008: 4).Pluralism, which was built from the idea of liberalism, stated that the interests of individuals would be better served in an environment where their own governments would stop controlling their lives. Unlike realism, pluralists thought of â€Å"low politic† concerns as priorities for International Relations. The paradigm of Marxism focused more on economic concerns rather than military or any other power. Marxism viewed globalization to an idea of the past; there was nothing new in the idea of globalization.Globalization was just a different way to demonstrate that the states with large economies would exploit the smaller ones. sort of like the bigger kid bullying the smaller kid. In a Marxist perspective, wars were fought for economic purposes which indicated that military power was used for economic gain instead for security. Social constructivism came into play in the 1990’s after there were many unsatisfied in the other paradigms. Social constructivism â€Å"favors a more sociological approach and advocates a greater appreciation of the cultural dimension of policy making† (Hough 2008: 6).It argued that â€Å"world stage actors† did not follow any type of rational script rather, â€Å"foreign policy reflects parochial ide ological or moral guidelines rather than objective gains† (Hough 2008:6). In the wide and narrow conceptions of security, the varied range of threats to humans have changed the whole perspective of international security, which previously had been based just on military based issues. Ullman described that a threat to security was solely based on two factors: the first, any threat that lowered the quality of a states’ people and second, any threat that narrowed the policy choices of any actor of the state.After the Cold War, some traditionalist suggested for security studies to go ‘back to basics’ instead of widening their security measures to â€Å"low politics† issues, they should stick to â€Å"high politics† issues such military threat. â€Å"The widening of security did not undermine the realist logic of conventional security studies. The focus was still on the state system and seeing relationships between states governed by power. Wideni ng was simply extending the range of factors that affect state power beyond the confines of military and trade affairs† (Hough 2008: 8).As for the realist, the ideology stayed the same. The main focus was still in the state’s issues and its people, but as for the widening it, it was just the extension of some issues that affected state’s power, beyond military issues. The deepening of security was driven by pluralists and social constructivists which believed that the concept of â€Å"human security† should be based on the individual’s need that makes up the different groups that exist and not the ‘actors’ issues.With that being said, the Copenhagen School philosophy cannot be resolved by the thought of the pluralists and the social constructivists which shifts the idea of security from the states to the people. â€Å"While accepting the idea that non-military issues can be securitized and that the referent object of this can be someth ing other than a state, maintains the logic that only the state can be the securitizing actor† (Hough 2008: 9).The state would be the only one to determine if the issue that is being securitized is an existential threat and if needs to be acted upon. The securitization of issues must be determined by the state’s government and be prioritized by if it’s a ‘low or high politics’ issue. As mentioned in the book, South Africa was one of the first countries that shifted away from military priority to a health priority. â€Å"The proportion of South Africa’s (GDP) Gross Domestic Product spent on military defense is 1. 5 per cent and the overall proportion on health is 3. percent† (UNDP 2002). Today, military threats in some countries are still their priority but global leaders are still able to balance their military and health expense. In conclusion, â€Å"Security† comes from a broader subject referred to International Relations. The paradigms that affect issues in security are realism, pluralism, Marxism, and social constructivism, having realist being the one which has dominated the study of security focuses on military security and to serve the state’s best interest.Although the Marxist idea was to focus more on economic issues instead of military or any other issues, the pluralist and the social constructivist perspective changed the spectrum of international security from what was once solely based on military issues had broaden to other ‘low politics’ issues such as concerns relating to health and rights of the people, so basically shifting the idea of security from the states to the people.In the end, the securitization of issues must be determined by the state’s government and must be prioritized by if it’s a ‘low or high politics’ issue. Workcited Hough, Peter. 2008. Understanding Global Security (2nd Edition). New York: Routledge. â€Å"United Nations De velopment Programme† http://www. undp. org/

Analysis Of Ray Bradburys Work Essay example - 1626 Words

An Analysis of Ray Bradbury’s Work Ray Bradbury does an excellent job of making his literature both interesting and fascinating to read. This makes him a great American author. He wrote a novel, The Illustrated Man, which is filled with details about futuristic events. An effect on the outcome of the way this piece of literature was the time it was written. The time period was revealed through the use of characterization, and setting. Throughout the novel, Bradbury uses the literary elements simile and theme to get his point across. At the time this was written, World War II was happening. Prior to the 1940s, the United States for the last decade was in a depression and remained isolated from other nations. The United States was†¦show more content†¦The biggest influence on America in the forties was the war. Ray Bradbury began by talking about the Illustrated Man and how he could not hold jobs anywhere. This was due to the fact that the Illustrated Man was filled with tattoos that had violent depictions and his tattoos also predicted the future. This Illustrated Man was upset about his illustrations and he tried every way possible â€Å"†¦Paper, acid, a knife†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Bradbury 3) to remove them. He mentioned an old lady in Wisconsin did them and that if he ever saw her again he would kill her. This old lady he spoke of placed futuristic events all over his body. The narrator watches the Illustrated Man’s portrayal of these events while he is sleeping. â€Å"Each illustratio n is a little story. If you watch them, in a few minutes they will tell you a tale. In three hours of looking, you could see eighteen or twenty stories acted on my body, you could here voices and think thoughts† (Bradbury 3). Many of the tales were about space and planets such as Venus, Mars and Jupiter. It seemed as if in every story there was a conflict between the Martians and the earth dwellers. There was always a Captain in the space stories and the greater majority of them seemed to miss earth, but on the other hand, they desired to explore the unknown. In the ending scene, the narrator gets choked by the Illustrated Man. The Illustrated Man ends up running to another town.Show MoreRelatedCold War in the Eyes of Ray Bradbury1689 Words   |  7 PagesRay Bradbury, from small town America (Waukegan, Illinois), wrote two very distinctly different novels in the early Cold War era. The first was The Martian Chronicles (1950) know for its â€Å"collection† of s hort stories that, by name, implies a broad historical rather than a primarily individual account and Fahrenheit 451 (1953), which centers on Guy Montag. 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They depend on firemen to burn books at an attempt at censorship and to block free thinking. They obstruct books and literature as a way to restrict knowledge and understanding. One of the major theme of Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is as society gains more knowledge and wisdomRead MoreRay Bradburys Fahrenheit 451: A World Without Books1095 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Å"There is more than one way to burn a book. And the world is full of people running about with lit matches† (Wikiquote, â€Å"Ray Bradbury†). Author Ray Bradbury made this observation in 1979 and his thought has only become more true as time has gone on. Bradbury warns of the possibility of this happening in his novel, Fahrenheit 451. 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