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Nicotinic acid (NA) is a water soluble B complex vitamin; possess antipallegra, antidiarrhoea and antidepression activity. It is a novel active substance against the deadly disease cancer and diabetes. It is an important compound used significantly in food, pharmaceutical and biochemical industries. The recovery study of NA is investigated using tri-n-octylamine (TOA) in dodecane and dodecanol mixture in 1:1 (w/w). n-dodecane (log Pa = 6.6) toxicity study reveals that it is the most suitable diluent for the simultaneous extraction of products during fermentation. However, 1-dodecanol (log Pa = 5.0) can also be used which provides a very low phase level toxicity with very high salvation power for extraction and blending a non toxic diluent (dodecane) with less toxic diluent (decanol) in 1:1(w/w) yield a biocompatible diluent with good extraction efficiency. Equilibrium study of NA (0.014-0.083 mol.kg-1) is performed by varying different parameters like effect of TOA concentrations (0.148 – 1.201 mol.kg-1), effect of initial pH of aqueous solution (2.5- 6) and effect of temperature (298- 328 K). Using the equilibrium data, the distribution coefficient (KD), extraction efficiency (% E) and loading ratio (z) are calculated. A maximum KD is obtained as 10.8 using optimum TOA (0.706 mol.kg-1) and acid concentration (0.055 mol.kg-1) with 91.53% recovery of NA. Maximum extraction is observed near pH 3.3. It has negligible influence on NA-TOA 1:1 complex based on model values and FT-IR spectra. Thermodynamic parameters, enthalpy (?H0) and entropy (?S0) are determined in the temperature range of 298 to 318K. The number of theoretical stages (NTS) for counter current extraction at optimum condition is found to be 4. In addition, the back-extraction rate was found to be reached 99.0 % using 0.05 mol kg?1 NaOH as stripping agent.
Get original essayKeywords: Nicotinic acid, reactive extraction, tri-n-octylamine, equilibrium, pH, temperature, column design.
Niacin or nicotinic acid (pyridine-3-carboxylic acid) is a water soluble B-complex vitamin, which participates in the formation of NAD and NADP coenzymes. These coenzymes are involved in the catabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins with energy production, along with fatty acids and cholesterol synthesis 1-3. Nicotinic acid is widely used in food, pharmaceutical and biochemical industries. The acid plays a key role in DNA repair and helps in the formation of steroid hormones in the adrenal gland. Deficiency of nicotinic acid may leads to pellagra, red tongue, diarrhoea, apathy, depression, disorientation and even memory loss 4, 5. Nicotinic acid also plays key role in the causes and treatment of other diseases, such as cancer 6, 7, diabetes 8, 9 and cardiovascular diseases associated with high level of cholesterol 10, 11. As human body is inept to produce nicotinic acid by its own, hence to maintain its ideal concentration in body, it should be taken in the form of food such as eggs, fish and green leafy vegetables or nutritional supplements. However, the overall production of nicotinic acid, worldwide have reached to about 22, 000 tonnes/y 12, 13, and still more emphasis is going on to increase its production rate.
Nowadays the complicated chemical synthesis methods become unalluring, due to worldwide awareness towards growing ecological problems. Hence, the production of nicotinic acid is intensified by biosynthetic route or enzymatic conversion of 3-cyanopyridine. The successful production of nicotinic acid (Lonza, Switzerland, China) on commercial scale using nitrilase enzyme has proved its industrial application 14, 15-17. In nature, it is present extensively in bacteria, filamentous fungi and plants 18, 19. However, the downstream processing of bioproducts costs about 60% of total production cost 20. Hence, for large scale production, it is not preferred over the chemical synthesis route. Thus, an alternate efficient method is required for its recovery from dilute fermentation broth via biosynthetic route 21. Reactive extraction is one of the efficient alternative to remove valuable organic acids/ biocompounds from an aqueous medium continously, using a suitable organic extractant/diluents system 22- 24. The toxicity of diluents in the bioreactor is the major concern when the in situ technique is used in separation. Molecular toxicity due to dissolution of solvent usually causes less damage to the cell than does phase toxicity because the former is limited by solvent solubility in the aqueous phase. The best possible way to reduce the toxicity of extracting medium is by blending a non toxic diluents (log Pa ?6) with a less toxic diluents (6 ? log Pa ?4) 25,26.
Earlier, several investigations on equilibrium and kinetic studies of nicotinic acid are done by different researchers. However, no recent literature on column design of nicotinic acid using biocompatible diluents mixture has been performed. Earlier, Kumar and Babu 27 review the different manufacturing processes of nicotinic acid. It includes both chemical and enzymatic method. They found separation of nicotinic acid through reactive extraction via enzymatic route is a promising technique in terms of enhancing nicotinic acid production. Sushil and co-workers 28 reported equilibrium study of nicotinic acid using organophosphorous extractant, TOPO and TBP dissolve in different inert and active diluents like n-heptane, n-decane, kerosene, 1-octanol, 1-decanol, MIBK etc. Maximum extraction yield is obtained by dissolving TOPO in MIBK. They found the mechanism of reaction is controlled by extractant type and solvent polarity. However, pure solvents without extractant are not capable of efficient extraction of nicotinic acid. Depaloy et al. study the equilibrium and kinetic study of nicotinic acid using TOA in MIBK 29. The equilibrium results show the formation of both 1:1 and 2:1 acid-amine complex. Kinetic study show that speed of stirring has no effect, however rate of extraction increases with increasing volume ratio of the phases. This group has also done equilibrium study of benzoic acid and nicotinic acid using TOA and TBP dissolved in different binary mixture 30. Results suggest that extraction strongly depend on polarity and ionizing strength of acid. Deliang et al. study the reactive extraction of nicotinic acid with TOA in n-octanol 31. It is found that the proton– donating n-octanol is efficient diluents when trialkylamine (N235) is used for extracting nicotinic acid. The favourable operating conditions are equilibrium aqueous pH 4.2 to 5.5.
The present article reports the determination of suitable column and it’s designing for optimization of industrial scale recovery of nicotinic acid from dilute aqueous/fermentation broth. This is based on experimental determination of equilibrium data by varying different parameters. Nicotinic acid is recovered by reactive extraction method using Tri-n-octylamine (TOA) as extractant dissolve in lauryl alcohol (log Pa = 5.032) + dodecane (log Pa = 6.633) in 1:1(w/w) ratio throughout the experiments. However, the combined use of diluent with polar modifier also affect the extraction yield positively. Nevertheless, with increase in number of carbon chain, toxicity of alcohol and alkane decreases. Hence, the combination of dodecane and lauryl alcohol as diluent system will create a non toxic, biocompatible environment friendly organic phase with good extraction efficiency. Finally, solvent regeneration is performed using different concentration of NaOH (stripping agent) solution.
The solvent dodecane +lauryl alcohol and extractant (tri-n-octyl amine) used in this study are poorly soluble in water. The solubility of alkane and alcohol decreases with increase in the number of carbon chain. Hence, no change in volume in aqueous and extract phase is accounted and all the calculations are done by assuming negligible solubility of solvents in the aqueous phase. Also, the solvent or organic phase co-extract water in negligible amount 34, 35.
Case I: n =1Separation of nicotinic acid from fermentation broth with TOA dissolved in dodecane and lauryl alcohol mixture (1:1 w/w) have been shown in eq. (1), assuming that m molecule of acid reacts with one TOA (T) molecule, with corresponding equilibrium constant(KE).
Materials. Nicotinic acid (SRL Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai, India), tri-n-octylamine (Spectrochem, Mumbai, India), lauryl alcohol (Alfa Aesar), dodecane (Spectrochem, Mumbai, India) were used without any pre-treatment. All the aqueous phases were prepared by using Millipore water (Milli -Q Advance A 10 TOC, Flix, Bangalore). pH of aqueous solution is maintained using reagent grade NaOH and H2SO4 solution. The physiological properties of chemicals used in the experimental study are given in table 1.
Table 1. Physical characterization of reagents used in the experimental study.
Reagents IUPAC name supplier Purity (% w) Mol. wt.
(kg.kmol-1) M.P
(K ) Density
(kg.m-3) Viscosity
(mPa.s) Dipole moment
(D) Dielectric constant
Nicotinic acid Pyridine-3-carboxylic acid
SRL Pvt. Ltd. 99 123.11 509.6 1470 - 0.219 -
Tri-n-octylamine N,N, dioctyl octan-1-amine Spectrochem, Mumbai, (India)
95 353.67 134 809 8.32
(296 K) - -
Lauryl alcohol 1-Dodecanol Alfa Aesar 98 186.33 299 830 18.8
(293 K)
1.60 6.50
n-
dodecane dodecane Spectrochem, Mumbai, (India) 99 170.34 263 750 1.40
(293 K) 0 2
Equilibrium. The stock solution of NA is prepared by adding weighed nicotinic acid in Millipore water. Different concentrations, 0.0136, 0.0341, 0.0548 and 0.0825 mol.kg-1 of nicotinic acid are prepared by diluting the stock solution. The organic phase is prepared by dissolving different concentrations of tri-n-octylamine (TOA) in mixture (1:1 w/w) of n-dodecanol plus dodecane. The extraction equilibrium experiments are carried out on a constant temperature water bath shaker (Daihan Labtech co. Ltd) for 6 h at 120 ± 5 rpm in 100 ml Erlenmeyer flasks with screw cap by taking equal volumes (20ml) of aqueous and organic phases at 298 ± 1 K. After reaching equilibrium, the mixture was allowed to settle for 120 min in a 60 ml separating funnel in an incubator ( REMI CIS-24 plus ), maintain at that temperature to achieve complete separation. The concentration of acid in aqueous phase was determined on a UV-Vis spectrophotometer, (Shimadzu UV-3600 plus) at 262 nm. Further, experiments were performed at different temperatures, 288, 298, 308 and 318 ±1 K. The extract phase chemicals used in this study have negligible solubility in aqueous solution.
Physical Extraction: It is previously known that low molecular weight diluents are miscible with water while high molecular weight diluents are not. However, mixing of non toxic diluents with polar modifier also enhances the extraction efficiency and reduces toxicity. The degree of toxicity of a solvent is defined by a parameter logPa which is logarithm of distribution of solvent between 1-octanol and water. For toxic solvents, the logPa value is less than 4 and for non toxic solvent logPa value are greater than 6. In this study, we have used dodecane and dodecanol in 1:1 (w/w) throughout the experiments. LogPa value of dodecane and dodecanol are 6.6 and 5.13 respectively. However, the physical extraction of the extract phase is also studied, as shown in Table 2. Maximum extraction efficiency of only 18.76% with 0.034 mol.kg-1 of NA is obtained. Therefore, to increase its extraction efficiency an extractant, TOA is also investigated for its further recovery.
Table 2. Physical Extraction of nicotinic acid in dodecane plus lauryl alcohol in 1:1
(w/w) at temperature 298 ± 1K and pressure 101.325 ±1 kPa.
Cin
(mol.kg-1) CHNc
(mol.kg-1)
(mol.kg-1) KD
- %E
-
0.014 0.0120 0.0020 0.166 14.26
0.034 0.0276 0.0064 0.231 18.76
0.055 0.0454 0.0096 0.213 17.54
0.082 0.0688 0.0132 0.191 16.05
aRelative standard uncertainities in molalities, ur (mHNc) = 0.1 ; standard uncertainities in temperature, u(t)= 1 K; standard uncertainities in pH, u(pH)= 0.01 ; standard uncertainities in pressure, u(p)= 1mPas
Effect of TOA concentration: Equilibrium study of NA was performed by varying different concentrations of acid (0.0136, 0.0341, 0.0548 & 0.0825 mol.kg-1) and TOA (0.148, 0.313, 0.499, 0.706, 0.943 and 1.201 mol.kg-1) in dodecane and lauryl alcohol mixture (in 1:1 w/w) at 298 ±1K and pressure 101.325±1kPa. The effects of both these parameters are observed simultaneously. However, the concentrations of NA studied are based on its concentration in the fermentation broth [ref].
The effect of TOA concentration is observed at six different points from a lowering value of 0.148 mol.kg-1 to a higher concentration at 1.2011 mol.kg-1 as shown in figure 1. Maximum extraction efficiency of NA is observed at 0.943 mol.kg-1 and on moving further slight plunge in degree of extraction is observed at 1.2011 mol.kg-1. The decrease may be due to increase in physical parameters like density, viscisity etc. However, very slight increase in degree of extraction is achieved when TOA concentration is raised from 0.706 to 0.943 mol.kg-1. Hence, 0.706 mol.kg-1 of TOA concentration is found to be the optimum concentration for cost efficient recovery process.
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Get custom essayNevertheless, the effect of acid concentrations is also investigated in this study and it is found that on moving from lower to higher TOA concentration convergence in degree of extraction is observed or the effect is more predominant in lower TOA concentration rather than at higher TOA concentration as shown in figure 1. However, on further investigating all the NA concentration range, it is found that maximum extraction is achieved at 0.055 mol.kg-1 of NA for all the TOA concentration range.
Communication is the strongest medium through which we can either build our connections with people or ruin it by creating misunderstandings. Hence to make our communication more effective we should make sure that we reduce our stress levels time to time. Stress plays a very important role in communication.
Get original essayStress level differs from situation to situation. Sometimes if we observe, there are instances or days when a person is too stressed out and, on that day, it becomes a little tough for him to communicate freely. For example, you want to convey a message but ‘right’ words don’t strike your mind and you tend to become irritated and impatient. This further leads to frustration and anxiety.
Communication is a two-way process thus language is also an important aspect of communication. India is one country which is known for its diverse culture and languages. Hence when we work in an organization it is essential for all of us to talk in a common language. For example, if a person from south India goes to north India or vice-versa to work, he/she will not be able to understand the regional language properly and might face problems at his/her workplace. This will not only give stress to that person but will also reduce his productivity and efficiency at the work place. Also, that person will not be able to comprehend the information and messages that are being passed to him clearly, which eventually will lead to a misunderstandings and confusion.
Workplace is one such organization where it is very important for all of us to manage our stress in such a way that it does not affect our communication. If stress in a professional world is not taken care of, then it may affect our productivity and efficiency which will impact our performance as well. Some ways of effective communication that can work wonders to overcome our stress in the professional world are:
Self-discovery is a difficult process for most people. Understanding to use strengths and overcome the shortcomings is even more difficult. In this article I would like to present some specific methods for self-analysis and self-understanding. So it is easy to realize where is your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges come from the external environment that you can face. And besides, it also shows how you can make the most of your strengths, which combined with the opportunities from the outside world to improve your weaknesses and thereby overcome the challenges that you will face in learning and work. The main contents of the report focus on the following items:
Get original essayThe main analytical tool of this report is based on the knowledge learned from ECS II subject combined with the search for information from the internet. And there is no lack of self-analysis to give the most objective explanation. In addition, I also collected opinions, comments about myself from my relatives as well as friends. However, the report still has certain limitations as my own analysis. These analyzes may be appropriate for me but may not be suitable for some others. However, it still can be applied in some respects because there are some fairly objective ideas to suit everyone, namely those types of models that anyone can apply easily.
Making good use of your strengths and grasp opportunities will create the premise for your success in work and life. But besides that, we still have the weaknesses that need to be overcome in order to easily respond to the challenges that come from the external environment in general and the competitors in particular. "Master yourself, master the enemy". To do this, my report will provide the most objective opinion based on the analysis of myself. And it will be presented in the form of specific models. Here I would like to analyze the first model that is MBTI - introduce yourself and give a specific personality.
According to 3 times of the MBTI test, I belong to the ISTJ personality group (Introverted, Sensing, Thinking and Judging). As a person who is capable of analyzing things, phenomena, people in the surrounding environment very well it is thanks to the characteristic S. I always try my best to make the ideas valuable and possible, which is despite the damage to health. Especially I'm very thorough, always checking events and seldom assuming anything. With the Judging characteristic, I often patience and concentration while doing any work. However, I often spend a lot of time and effort doing the work that they think is important, especially contributing to achieving a specific goal. So I almost skip what I saw as meaningless, or unrealistic, as social rituals. With introvert personality and Thinking characteristic quite developed, so I was indifferent, cold. Thus, I always have difficulty expressing my feelings. Besides, I easily resented when the others make a mistake, and paid special attention to the promise. And finally, I often find it difficult to feel my emotions (with the feelings of others is more difficult to understand). Therefore, I have a lot of challenges when I need to understand the emotional needs of others. In contrast, I rarely have problem when faced with emotional situations - I always keep a cool head and act sensibly.
The SMART model as applied to solve weaknesses In order to overcome our weaknesses, we must set clear goals. But not everyone can achieve that easily. The SMART model will help us do this.
Specific - It is very specific because participating in these outdoor activities will contribute to increase a real experience such as how to organized and work in a group or learn soft skills easily. Measurable - Because of the international environment with so many different cultures, I can acquire many different types of practical experiences. Achievable - It is likely to be achieved, because studying in Singapore will give me many opportunities to practice. Relevant - This practical experiences are very useful for my work in the future. Due to society increasingly demands experience rather than theory. Time bound - I can achieve this goal during 16 month study broad.
Specific - It is very specific that I will become confidence. And I imagine in my head to do the following: take advantage of the opportunity to communicate with my classmates, work group and presentation in front of class. Measurable - Determine what I achieve when done. It will give me the opportunity to be more confident in group work as well as in front of the crowd. Besides, it also helps me improve communication and speak English fluently. Achievable - These goals can be achieved because I am studying in an international environment with so many different cultures. Relevant - Achieving this goal will help a lot in my business later on. Time bound - And my goal is to be able to be more confident while studying (16 months).
Effective use of these models not only helps them understand their strengths, but also helps us take advantage of the opportunities outside that can overcome weakness and not be embarrassed when resolved problems. Therefore, it is possible to set yourself a plan and direction exactly in the work as well as behavior in life in the present and in the future. In addition, we can apply these models to a group or organization so that we can improve the performance by clearly identifying the resources and capabilities that a team or an organization owned, particularly the understanding of human resources in the organization. Understanding yourself is also an important condition in communicating behaviors with people around: your relatives, friends, colleagues, etc.
Artificial intelligence is the ability of a computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. When asked about AI the average person may immediately imagine the Hollywood depiction of AI such as a Terminator, however, this is a grand exaggeration of current AI ability. AI begins with a program that learns how to perform basic tasks it has been instructed with and with each succession of its task, the task will become more difficult. This “trains” the AI on how to calculate or complete more complex tasks over time. Depending on what task the AI has been challenged to complete, the resulting AI may be more specialized in a particular task. Although there have been large strides of progress in developing computer processing speed and memory capacity, there is no AI programs that can match a human’s flexibility over wider domains or in tasks that require everyday knowledge. In specializing in one specific category, however, AI can match the performance levels of human experts such as medical diagnosis, search engines or voice and handwriting recognition. The use of AI has made its way into medical science areas and has since been used in a range of different medical fields to promote therapeutic development. AI has since been used extensively in a range of medical fields such as diagnosing acute and chronic diseases. In this critical essay, we will focus on the use of AI in Melanoma detection, with references to Cui, et al’s research in assessing the effectiveness of artificial intelligence methods for melanoma. In this research, their objective is to determine the most effective AI method for diagnosing melanoma. Overall, the use of AI would be a significant benefit in the use of diagnosing diseases such as melanoma, given the accuracy of its results, however, this does not mean it should be used blindly to diagnose every patient, rather human experts' supervision should still be an integral part in the diagnosis.
Get original essayThe use of AI in the medical science field has grown extensively to include the diagnosis of diseases. Research in assessing the most effective AI method for diagnosing melanoma will be the focal area in which this review will revolve around.
The method seemed adequate, where both AI training methods were tested, traditional machine learning and deep learning algorithms, against the same sample data sets, one large set consisting of 2200 images of which 564 were melanomas and the rest were non-melanomas, and one subset containing 606 images of which 295 were melanomas and 311 were nonmelanomas, ensuring reliable and valid results.
In assessing the traditional machine learning AI, the use of 4 fully automatic image segmentation algorithms was used appropriately for segmenting melanoma. However further explanation as to what dilating, corrosion, and hole filling could be provided to further explain image processing processes. The morphological features, area, perimeter, roundness, centroid, and many others were calculated as texture features. From this post-processing, the least amount of shrinkage and selection operator method used to select the most useful features was a good decision as it ensures relevant data is being used. A RAD score calculated for each image is a good measure of a linear combination of selected features (SVM, classification and regression tree, k-nearest neighbors, and LR) weighted against their respective coefficients.
From these values, the accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity were calculated using a 10-fold cross-validation method. This method was appropriate as it estimates the skill of the machine learning models. The region selected as important by dermatologists were compared to the regional segments selected by the four different algorithms to determine the intersection over union, which is a statistic used for gauging the similarity and diversity of different samples, and the false-positive rate.
Of the four image segmentation algorithms, the best as shown above was Region growing. This algorithm was then used as the base algorithm for traditional machine learning algorithms. The algorithm chosen was an acceptable decision as it provides the best results of each AI.
The outcome of the best AI using the choice algorithm in traditional machine learning was determined to be the LR algorithm. The LR algorithm produced the highest accuracy, comparable to SVM, but it has a higher sensitivity rating at the sacrifice of some specificity, thus making it a better algorithm for an all-rounder type.
Deep learning methods process data in an entirely distinct method, where deep learning requires a large amount of image data, skin cancer images were fewer than needed. To compensate for the lack of data, transfer learning was used to solve the problem, this method essentially uses an experienced or trained model which then transfers relevant data to the newer models, reducing the overall amount of time and resources to train the newer models. This method is questionable as it gives the deep learning AI programs an edge in diagnosing melanoma, as it has had a larger data set to gather information and process compared to the traditional machine learning. Nonetheless, this does give the Deep learning AI a chance to use its full potential and provide the best data values. The four most commonly used deep learning AI were challenged to diagnose the same images as the ones used for traditional machine learning, and from Table 3 Google’s Inception V3 AI was able to produce the best results, with the highest average accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity.)
These results in Table 3 provide promising benefits for the medical field, as the depth of knowledge acquired by the deep learning AI and the increase in training time so too does the accuracy and classification of the experiment. Although the experiment appears sound overall, there are limitations throughout the experiment. One of which was the severity of the melanoma was not determined, another was the nonmelanoma samples were all of the benign nevus otherwise known as birthmarks, this particular limitation is of great significance as the results may not necessarily mean the AI was able to diagnose melanoma, but rather the absence of melanoma. To accommodate this flaw, the nonmelanoma images should contain a variety of skin conditions, to ensure the AI is specifically diagnosing melanoma.
There are advantages and disadvantages that ultimately determine the appropriate use of AI. Traditional machine learning algorithms, they require relatively low data sets and is easy to train, however, this comes at the cost of low generalization ability and high costs. Deep learning AI is able to be more flexible and include more data sets and contains extraction features although these require much larger data requirements and higher quality data. Although deep learning AI has proven to be accurate, it should still be used under the supervision of expert dermatologists to confirm diagnoses, because the data used to “teach” the AI was limited in certain areas. Overall, the assessment of effective diagnosis of melanoma using artificial intelligence was well done, nevertheless, there are improvements that can be made to improve results.
Personal growth plan helps leaders welcome new ideas and embrace changes as they help others achieve their dreams and goals. Horning your skills in areas of development helps in becoming a more successful leader. Effective leaders are easy to embrace change and promote personal development. Personal growth plan is very crucial for leaders who need to be successful as it helps to keep them updated with the latest trends in technology and management. Leadership objectives conform to the core mission of the organization goals and their achievements. These achievements assist in magnifying and multiplying the overall organization growth. I have prepared a table outlining my goals and the objectives necessary in order to achieve them.
Get original essayImproving interpersonal skills – All successful leaders have great communication skills with people in their surroundings.
Focusing on the basic communication skills – These include listening and hearing. Listen carefully while taking all your time in order to coherently process your feedback. Pay attention to other peoples’ verbal and non-verbal communication while utilizing skills such as reflection and asking questions to seek for clarification. By using questioning technique, I stand to gain more experience from interacting with these people. Non-verbal communication includes tone variation and overall body language which have proven to be very dependable and vital. These may need careful approach as they may contradict the message being relayed if not used wisely.
Improving on advanced communication skills – Improving effective speaking and evaluating why you are experiencing such problems is a segment of success. In this area, I will need to ensure all barriers to communication are properly catered for to ensure emotions and change do not interfere with my communication hence making my conversations very difficult.
Looking inwards – Looking inwards basically involves improving your own morale and self-esteem before focusing on your others. The key in this objective is focusing on emotional intelligence; how I manage my emotions and those of others. Looking inwards is very vital as it helps a person earn respect and trust of other people while having many perspectives about emotions in general.
Reflecting on previous experience and improving – Take time to recollect on previous interactions and identify your mistakes then continue developing by correcting your mistakes.
Inspiring other team members – Helping others reach their potential is a must if you want to be a successful leader.
Trust – In order to efficiently grow as a leader, I need to put more trust in others. This goes a long way from supporting jobs of other team members to seeking their advice on their specializations. As a result, they develop more confidence and therefore are more productive. Recognize other peoples’ contribution through informal ways such as coffee drinking conversations as well as performance appraisal in a formal evaluation. I need to be more reachable by responding to calls and work emails within a specific time period. The colleagues will appreciate if they are aware that they can reach me at any time. They even see you as a dependable person who really is sophiscated. If need be, I should be able to back the team members during their hard times emotionally and physically. Sometimes we may differ with my colleagues, so I need to devise ways to apologize if our meetings did not end well. Acting like I really care such as asking about their families’ welfare and showing genuine concern while lending a listening ear to them is a crucial tool in successful leadership.
Lastly, I need to treat everyone with respect on order to forge a comfortable working environment.
Time management – good time management is very crucial for successful leader. It helps leaders to efficiently work to achieve team goals.
Organizing and prioritizing email – I need a specific time frame for checking emails so as not to waste time checking emails rather than handling the vital functionalities of the business. Grouping email lists according to urgency is very crucial as it helps in avoiding missing important notifications.
Devise a plan – Coming up with a plan outlining all the things that needs to be done in one day helps to effectively manage time. It should include realistic targets to achieve in one day. It should also include the time needed for each of the task to be carried out.
Successful leadership may not be achieved without perfect objectives. These objectives should be realistic, measurable, specific and achievable within a stipulated time frame. Setting unrealistic goals may cause frustration hence resulting into failure. Effective leadership is accompanied by good time management and showing great interpersonal skills which make the workplace a comfortable environment to work in. Assessing strengths and weaknesses of team members helps to identify the areas to improve resulting into successful leadership.
Increasing rates of innovation and globalization require higher quantities of complex interactions among people from diverse cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds. People no longer live and work in a restricted marketplace (Bhardwaj, Sharma & Deepshikha, 2017). This increased global visibility has completely changed the dynamics of leadership roles. The transition from local director to international leader has changed the dynamic of leadership roles, as increased diversity creates organizational challenges.
Get original essayAlthough leadership principles can be more complex, a culturally and generationally diverse workplace provides endless problem-solving perspectives that could otherwise go unnoticed. In order to fully utilize the benefits brought forward in a diverse workplace, there are four dynamics that an effective leader must continually execute: creating and maintaining a shared vision, understanding attitudes and expectations, establish and maintain communication channels, manage cultural knowledge gaps.
Successful leaders recognize the importance of creating a concise shared vision for their teams. This vision can serve as a moral compass, a source of motivation, and even a sales tool when used in the proper context. Effective leaders work to develop others who share their vision by energizing everyone around them. Dr. Patricia Thompson (2018) emphasizes four principals crucial to creating an exciting organizational vision:
It is imperative that this vision not only falls in line with company culture but inspires a sense of connection and belonging within the workplace. These types of connections present an opportunity to bridge cultural and generational gaps between teammates, further establishing a common purpose on behalf of the organization. This comradery enables increased levels of trust, collaboration, and productivity in the workplace, creating an environment designed to successfully convey company vision in a manner that engages all levels of an organization (Lugo, 2013).
Aside from an internal boost in moral, a powerful organizational vision can serve as an excellent recruiting tool. Google is a perfect example of this, as the company receives over two million job applications per year, making the chances of becoming a new hire at Google less likely than being accepted into Harvard (Phelps, 2014). This has enabled Google to hand pick a workforce far more diverse than their tech counterparts, furthering the organization’s reach and appeal.
Biggins (2018) states: A diverse workforce will bring different ideas and new ways of thinking to the table. They’ll be able to serve your client or customer base better. Members of staff that come from a range of backgrounds will have had different experiences, giving them a greater understanding of different points of views. This can be useful for empathizing or problem-solving in various situations, offering more tailored support to clients or customers. A diverse culture and a powerful shared vision have helped Google and its parent organizations grow into one of the world’s largest, most profitable companies. This could not have happened without trained, effective leadership to lure talent to the organization.
"Opposites attract" has been a popular expression within American pop culture when referring personal relationships but fails to facilitate validity in a professional context. People with individual differences are more prone to communication conflicts than people with shared generational and cultural backgrounds (Bhardwaj, Sharma & Deepshikha, 2017). These variances create natural message delivery barriers which must be dissolved to enable effective organizational communication channels. For this reason, leadership ideologies become much more complex as organizational diversity increases. However, effective leadership can extract the benefits of a multicultural workforce. To harness these benefits, leadership must be capable of navigating the following notions.
Effective leadership requires the recognition and understanding of cultural discrepancies in the workplace. For example: Asian cultures, such as those of Japan and China, view older workers positively, as they often bring wisdom and experience to the workplace. This is a stark difference from Western societies, where aging employees are often viewed as a burden or liability while the enthusiasm and ambition of younger employees is celebrated.
Members of the Millennial generation often find traditional communication methods cumbersome and archaic while more mature professionals view social media as a waste of time (Merrill, 2016). Each generation and culture may require different engagement tactics to optimize productivity and maintain moral. Knowing and understanding these differences will allow for the optimization of communication channels throughout all levels of the organization, in turn, increasing productivity and efficiency (Bhardwaj, Sharma & Deepshikha, 2017).
Variances in culture and age will also produce vastly different sets of personal, professional, and fiscal goals. Baby boomers are less concerned with status and more concerned with viable employment while Millennials often trade job security for status, as they view their career as a reflection of their success. Variances in cultural upbringing can influence financial decision making on both personal and professional levels. Employees raised in an affluent household will likely have different financial values based on their prosperity compared to employees who were raised with financial hardships (Gelbtuch & Morlan, 2015). These are two examples of the many cultural psychographics which will require evaluation to demonstrate effective leadership in a diverse workplace. Efficient workforce engagement through proper channels, acknowledgment of personal goals, and education of the cultural variables at play are all crucial in catering to the goals of subordinates (Bhardwaj, Sharma & Deepshikha, 2017).
The world’s business climate is evolving. People are living longer, and socioeconomic factors are requiring many to work past a traditional retirement age, resulting in as many as four generations of people are working together. This combined with varying cultural norms and perceptions makes for an incredibly complex collection of thoughts and ideals in the workplace. Variances in attitudes, behaviors, expectations, motivations, attitudes, and communication styles can create rifts between employees and foster organizational tension (Gelbtuch & Morlan, 2015).
For example: older workers often perceive millennials as snarky, entitled, and too eagar for their own good while millennial employees find elder generations out of touch and difficult to coexist with in the workplace. Education of these generational and cultural ideals through both formal training in the workplace and informal interactions outside of work will strengthen employee bonds and eliminate the potential of organizational erosion due to preconceived bias. This sort of effective collaboration will increase multicultural understanding, which contributes to increased activity across all multicultural and multigenerational communication channels (Merrill, 2016).
Effective leadership should avoid making assumptions about each generation, but instead listen carefully when communicating with them on a case-to-case basis to better understand their values in the workplace. The development of these types of effective two-way communication channels within a multicultural, multigenerational workplace environment is a complex task as communication preferences vary greatly by age. Successful leadership should have an extensive background in the dynamics of effective communication channels, of should collaborate with professionals well versed in the field. Johnson & Hackman (2018) noted that "Theorists, consultants, instructors, and writers offer a great many skill typologies or classifications to guide developing leaders." This type of expert professional collaboration can aid the development of effective communication channels.
Leadership should be well versed in essential interpersonal communication skills such as body posture, eye contact, effective use of language, clear tone of voice, clear speech patterns, active listening skills. An effective multigenerational leader will speak with clear and concise language, allowing each generational and cultural cohort to understand. Slang words and other types of generational terms should be avoided as they change from one generation and culture to the next, creating the potential for breakdowns in communication.
A term meaning one thing to baby boomers can mean something completely different to Millennials (Wesolowski, 2014). For example: “wicked” means cool or awesome to younger generations but evil or bad to older generations. The adoption these fundamental communication skills to an organization builds trust and improves the working relationship between leadership and their employees as well as team members of different backgrounds. When replicated at all levels, this type of symmetrical communication within the workplace can be a catalyst for organizational effectiveness. Benefits of this effectiveness include but are not limited to; increased creative development, a stronger foothold in the global marketplace, and added organizational ability better suited to predict changes in business climate (Bhardwaj, Sharma & Deepshikha, 2017).
Effective multicultural leadership allows for increased research, creativity, and collaboration in the workplace. This type of workplace environment reflects the globalization of today’s business climate, enabling professionals from various cultures and generations to contribute continually-changing perspectives towards a common goal (Biggins, 2018). To fully utilize these multicultural collaborations, all members of the workplace must feel that their values, beliefs, and perspectives are understood and appreciated. Emphasis on the following two components will optimize a multicultural workplace’s efficiency and output.
Creating a workplace environment based on mutual respect and understanding, generational mentoring, and cross-communicational skill building, will gain an enhanced understanding and appreciation of one another. This mutual respect and appreciation for one another helps eliminate stereotypes and enhances communications amongst workplace members, further enabling opportunities to teach, share, and learn from one another (Bhardwaj, Sharma & Deepshikha, 2017). This type of data sharing, or effective collaboration is crucial in understanding the behavior of others. Effective leadership should have a comprehensive understanding of the cultural and generational dynamics within their team, enabling proper handling of issues and avoiding unnecessary tension and animosity. This enables the recognition of cross-cultural issues that could potentially interfere with the relationship between managers and employees. To be a successful leader and mentor, there are two important dynamics that should be continually engaged; self-awareness and active listening.
Self-awareness is crucial in self-improvement, and leadership should strive to continually improve their skills in listening, understanding, and data capture. Active listening becomes especially important when engaging a generationally and culturally diverse workplace, as it is crucial in the removal of cultural communication barriers (Parvis, 2003). Alternatively, the unwillingness to value input from different generations or cultures enables decreased productivity, stereotypes, and resentment in the workplace. These types of communication barriers lend to a dysfunctional work environment which fosters less productivity through limited workplace communication channels (Goldstein, 2017). Effective leadership should prevent these communication breakdowns by appreciating and understanding peers’ perspectives while minimizing distrust and incompatibility.
A multigenerational, multicultural workplace brings different perspectives to the group, and the ability to acknowledge these perspectives and task them accordingly is crucial in leadership roles (Merrill, 2016). For example: Baby Boomers may excel in a role that is dependent on interpersonal interaction during traditional business hours, while many Millennials thrive in non-traditional work environments such as remote office scenarios and interactions that are mostly digital. Keeping variables such as this in mind when delegating tasks will emphasize effectiveness as a leader while maximizing efficiency as an organization. The ability to continually modify workplace specifics, communication styles, and methods of employee engagement is crucial in the comprehension of the motivations for each generation and culture in the workplace in order to gain a better understanding of their values (Wesolowski, 2014).
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Get custom essayIn conclusion, today's organizations face massive changes as workforces are becoming increasingly multi-generational and culturally diverse. Through the use of strengthened communication, active workplace mentoring, and efficient knowledge management, leadership can successfully navigate organizational shifts to achieve increased efficiency and increased adaptability to future business environment alterations (Parvis, 2003).
The LTC is constantly changing and so are the training requirements as demanded by federal regulatory agencies. For example, traditional skilled nursing facilities have become more medically complex and specialized. Further, assisted living centers, serving as an alternative to nursing homes, now deliver more care and services while at the same time providing privacy and flexibility to seniors. Senior living facilities focus primarily on providing a safe living environment and convenience services for able-bodied seniors. Community-based organizations focus on home care designed to serve the frail older adults who desire to remain in their homes as they age.
Get original essayThere are several credentialing programs for administrators that are required to hold specific licenses. Licensing requirements vary according to state and healthcare setting. In any case, effective healthcare administrators and staff should be diligent in addressing the following two challenges:
1. Healthcare administrators and management staff must be proactive and diligent in understanding, planning, and executing person-centered change. This requires them to gain comprehensive knowledge of the issue so that they can overcome barriers, objectively analyze their effectiveness, and remain focused on regulatory compliance and personal control.
2. Assisted living administrators and management staff need to successfully balance the sometimes competing priorities of marketing their facility and providing exemplary patient care. Additionally, they need to construct and institutionalize systems primarily focused on effective quality management in order to satisfy-and hopefully exceed- customer expectations. Continually practiced, this skill will help to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
The servant-leadership model places emphasis on developing vision (conceptualization, foresight, building community); instituting change (persuasion, commitment to the growth of people); communication (listening); visible presence (empathy, awareness, healing) and stewardship. Positive culture change is ineffective when leadership is limited to the ideas of a controlling minority. When the LTC administrator and management staff act in the capacity of stewardship, they are delivering service rather than demonstrating control over others. It is fundamental that everyone participate to define the purpose and culture of the organization, and then incorporate these elements into the program.
The effective administrator, manager or leader can effectively structure the quality management system to align with common sense goals as opposed to extrinsic requirements or incentives. The successful LTC administrator demonstrates great enthusiasm and passion for delivering exemplary customer service. Of course, this passion drives them far beyond their need to have to comply with specific regulations and standards. As they progress, they continue to grow and develop effective leadership traits and skills. They continuously share in the mission of the facility, which is patient-centered and built around the provision of quality care. They also foster a culture that empowers employees and residents alike, supports innovation, and agility and yields concrete, attainable results.
It is prudent for LTC facilities, nursing homes, assisted living homes and home care organizations to allocate resources designated specifically for the development of a systematic and objective leadership development program, including identifying the skill-set(s) needed for managers effectively lead and motivate staff. There are three categories of skills that all LTC administrators must master: technical skills, relational skills and conceptual skills.
Technical skills relate to the ability to perform the job at hand. Low-level managers require more technical skills than do senior managers, because they are in charge of the actual operations Relational skills can also be thought of as interpersonal skills. These are important for administrators of all levels, in order to lead, motivate and develop their team members, as well as to successfully engage in negotiations for resources and influence stakeholders. Conceptual skills include those related to sound judgment, foresight, intuition, creativity, effective planning, problem solving and coordination of the various organizational functions, and are essential for senior managers.
In many instances, LTC leaders and managers are promoted from within the ranks of current employees. Without proper training, these new leaders can demonstrate inexperience or incompetence, marked by poor decision-making and ineffectual business practices. Leadership training should include topics such as work-flow design, conflict resolution, performance evaluation, communication styles and interpersonal skills, problem-solving methodologies, and coaching and mentoring.
Even without a formal leadership position, in a successful LTC environment, all staff should demonstrate a willingness and preparedness to lead under certain circumstances or in certain situations. Interestingly, some individuals are unaware of their leadership potential until the opportunity presents itself. Management can inspire the development of leadership traits in their staff by:
There have been many incidents of abuse, neglect and mistreatment of residents in LTC facilities over the years. Cultural differences within the facilities can significantly impact the perceived quality of care delivered. As such, development of programs that are sensitive to residents’ needs should focus on identifying and mitigating cultural differences between residents and staff in order to make a positive impact and increase patient satisfaction and staff morale.
It is important for administrators and staff to recognize cultural differences, to understand patient needs and values on an individual level, and to construct an environment that will foster cultural comprehension and respect for differences. The following themes impact cultural sensitivity in LTC facilities: language barriers, cultural assimilation, and patent privacy.
The incorporation of cultural themes, traditions, and customs into LTC activities and events permit residents and staff to experience shared cultures. Administrators and management staff, for example, can offer traditional foods, or allow for dress that conforms to certain rituals or traditional customs, thus encouraging cultural exchange.
Development of a language program or diversity of reading program can be developed. Volunteers from ethnic organizations serving as guest lecturers will certainly help to promote cultural similarities and appreciation. Cultural diversity should be fully embraced as an asset in nursing homes and other LTC facilities, to build the reputation of the facility and encourage cultural acceptance.
Populations with special needs are group of individuals that require assistance for various types of disabilities or developmental delays in behavioral, cognitive, emotional, physical, scholastic, or social skills. Special needs can be classified as physical or mental. Physical disabilities include blindness, chronic illness, congenital disorders, deafness, and orthopedic and traumatic injuries, while mental disabilities includes autism spectrum disorder (ASD), bipolar disorder, depression, dementias including Alzheimer's disease, manias, phobias and schizophrenia. In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law to protect those with special needs against discrimination in public and private spaces such as at work, in school, while using public transportation, and more.
Leadership within organisations varies significantly across the public, private and third sector. This paper will examine the difference within leadership in the human service sector, looking at the influence that the human services sector has on leadership practices and analysing effective leadership models which lend themselves to the human services context.
Get original essayLeadership is the role of directing and influencing the trajectory of an organisation through guiding employees, stakeholders and others that are involved the day to day functioning of an organisation to align their daily practice towards the organisational goals. The concept of leadership comprises of many aspects including organisational, personal and social processes that motivate direction. Effective leadership strives to improve the organisational processes to stay current with the changing nature of society and become innovative to meet changing demands. Leadership, unlike management, occurs across many levels of an organisation and is not a direct top-down approach informed by management. Effective leadership strives for positive change and continual improvement through clear vision, transparency of processes, valued input stakeholders, trust and effective organisational culture. Leadership within the third sector – those whose main objectives are focused on addressing social aspects over economic return vary from the traditional public and private organisation leadership styles. The environments in which Human service organisations operate have become vastly more complex over time. This complex nature is evident through the ever-changing socio-dynamic variations to localities, explained by the occurrence of immigration, resulting in transient demographic profiles that are dynamic and diverse in nature. The ever-changing nature of these areas means the Human service sector is continually adjusting their leadership and services to meet the needs of the changing socio-economic populations within the locality that the organisation operates.
Leadership models, philosophies and styles vary between organisations and sectors, many leadership models and theories were developed for corporate and military bodies, which have vastly different objectives and processes to human service organisations. The underpinning philosophies and styles of leadership that work within the business sector often are not successful within the human services sector resulting in poor organisational culture and organisational objectives not being met.
Key leadership theoretical frameworks seen within the human services sector include transformational, situational and servant leadership.
Leadership styles can be categorised into three classes, task orientated, relations orientated and change orientated. The core leadership styles seen within the human services sector span these three categories and include adaptive, distributed, authentic and servant leadership styles. Due to the complex nature of the human services sector, the suitability of these styles varies between organisations and are dependent on the current social, political and economic environments.
Adaptive leadership is defined by DeRue as 'leading and following as a complex adaptive process' . This style of leadership centres around the input of differing knowledge, beliefs and preferences of individuals working within the organisation. A leader emerges from the group who has skills set and knowledge in a particular area that is required to complete that task. Adaptive leadership is more flexible in application and utilises the knowledge of previous experience to adapt to the changing dynamics of the sector. Adaptive leadership allows multiple people within the organisation to be leaders when their expertise and knowledge align with the task that needs to be completed. Distributed leadership shares a few commonalities with adaptive leadership, when using a distributed leadership style, there are multiple leaders within the organisation, who are responsible for a specific area. An example of distributed leadership within the human services sector is in an organisation where team leaders are assigned to manage their team of employees. Both adaptive and distributed leadership styles have multiple leaders across the organisation.
Authentic leadership is based around developing an approach that provides consistency in words, actions and values. Authentic leadership requires the leader to have a comprehensive understanding of their values and not allow the values or beliefs of others to influence their actions regarding leadership decisions. Core values often act as a motivational force guiding decision-making processes for authentic leaders. This creates a workplace culture promoting mutual trust, transparency and guidance towards the shared objectives of the organisation and the wellbeing and career development of individuals within the organisation.
Unlike the public or private sectors, leadership within the human services sector is influenced by a multitude of factors. These include but are not limited to: the gendered nature of the industry, the causality of funding, multiple and complex needs of clients, the pressure of service delivery, high staff turnover, relationship with clients and the context of the day. Within the human services sector, no two days are the same; the challenges and demands that human service employees face daily is the unpredictable nature of this industry. Due to the unique nature of this sector, leadership within the human services sector focuses on the needs of vulnerable people in communities that are dependent on developing strong relationships with their communities.
A common theme of divided staff can be seen within human service organisations, between trained human service staff and administrative teams. Having a sound leadership model can be challenging when the goals of these two crucial yet distinct teams are opposing. Leadership within Human services organisations have two fundamental purposes, to assist their clients and to stay in business, one cannot exist without the other.
Within human service organisations, a lack of social workers employed in senior administrative roles. This shortage can be seen as a result of the lack of leadership training incorporated within social work education and continued professional development within the human services sector. To address this disparity within the industry, the skill sets of those in the human services sector need to be expanded to include leadership and organisational knowledge. It is imperative that staff have an understanding and appreciation of the roles within the organisation. All positions should add to the organisation, bringing skillsets that add value and expertise to the organisation and aligns with the key organisational objectives.
In a sector characterised by the complexity of an ever-changing, unreliable environment, human service organisations must adopt an inclusive leadership style, which reflects the objective and core values of the industry. Solely using a corporate based leadership model within the human service sector influences practice methods and organisational outcomes. These styles often undermine the ability of the human services employees to facilitate positive client outcomes, prioritising organisational growth. An effective leadership style can be developed implementing a style that is composed of aspects of the situational and servant leadership theories, incorporating aspects from adaptive and authentic styles of leadership resulting in an approach that is collaborative, innovative, relationship orientated, and supportive. This approach allows for reflexive and ethical practice to be completed and be innovative as often limited funding and resources are readily available in the sector. Implementing a mixed- model of leadership equips organisations to meet the complex demands of clients' needs and allows the organisation to remain financially viable to continue providing services.
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Get custom essayA crucial element on developing an effective leadership style within a human services organisation is the current nature of the sector which is then influenced by the identified target group that the organisation works with and their needs. Effective leadership within the Human services sector should see organisations developing innovative methods to address the changing nature of the sector. Having competent leadership within an organisation is reflected in the organisation's ability to harness the changing dynamics of the world. The changing dynamics influence the social and political realms which flow on to impact the sector and individuals within a society. Effective leadership should be reflected in an organisations ability to adapt and implement changes stay current and meet the changing needs of vulnerable people within society. A combination of leadership models, philosophies and styles best suit the unique nature of the human services sector where the main focus is on the meeting the needs of the most vulnerable over creating a business empire centred around financial gains.
Abstract— This paper aims to explain the effective use of Google Classroom for online submission of laboratory work. The practical knowledge is one of the main graduate attributes and is efficiently achieved through the laboratory work. The purpose of this paper is to emphasize on the improvement in the quality of the laboratory work through online submission of the lab work by the students and the effective and transparent implementation of the lab rubrics by the lab course teacher. Also a study of comparison of two different classes one with the online lab submission and the other with traditional approach on the basis of grades and originality in the lab work submitted is also discussed, along with a few more advantages.
Get original essayIndex Terms— Laboratory assessment tool, effective online assessment, technology enhanced learning, google classroom.
The laboratory learning is an important part of the curriculum and helps the students to gain practical knowledge. “Learning through doing” is the main idea behind having a lab course. The lab course is an integral part of the teaching learning process especially, in technical education. The lab course helps to understand the concept in better way and moreover also allows them to explore their idea individually. In a theory class discussing a design problem is always done. But, the issues related to implementation and the loop holes in the design can only effectively found after implementing it in the lab. Hence, the effectiveness of the lab course is very evident, and therefore it is necessary to take appropriate measures to ensure that the objective behind conducting a lab course is achieved and the learning process should be such that every induvial student efforts taken and contribution should be significantly visible. This will in turn result in an effective and more transparent assessment.
The traditional process of submitting ones laboratory work is through a lab journal or lab record book, and the assessment would mainly depend on the quality of the hardcopy of lab work submitted later and on timely submission. So, the main loop hole in this system was that, the lab work would be submitted at a later day and thus gave the students a chance to copy from his peers if the problem statement was same or take the help of some peer instead of taking efforts during the actual lab time. Thus, the actual understanding of the students could not be concluded through the grades they had received.
Also, keeping a track of number of times a particular work was resubmitted due to modification or corrections was difficult or not possible in the above mentioned approach.
To remove the above mentioned hurdles and to enhance the process of evaluation a technique wherein the students submit the lab work during the lab course in a google classroom and the relative work that includes some calculation, justification or post lab question a little later was adopted.
The first task for teacher is to create an online workbook for students to submit their work. In this paper we have used Google Classroom as a tool for the students to submit their work. The Google classroom has the features that allows the teacher to share resources with the students, create common assignments, accepts individual file upload for the same assignment and individual grading, moreover it also allows the teacher and student to post to which all of the members of the classroom can reply to. A one more added advantage of this tool was that a peer teacher could also be added to the same classroom.
A. Creation, submission and assessment through google classroom
Google Classroom is one of the applications, wherein anyone with a google account can open a google classroom. After creation of the google classroom the students can be invited to join the classroom through e-mail or buy sharing the class code (as shown in the fig1). The lab manual with general instruction and lab write-ups for each lab can be uploaded in the google classroom for reference of the students.
For submission of each laboratory work, two assignments were created and were denoted as part 1 and part 2. Students were instructed to submit the part 1 by the end of the lab, and this was ensured by assigning the deadline to the assignment through one of the features of Google classroom. The part 1 included observations and outputs. The part 2 of the assignment had to be submitted within a stipulated time and it included the relative literature such as calculations, graphs, conclusions drawn, or post lab questions.
The teacher could asses the lab work anytime as it was always available on the cloud. The documents uploaded by the students came also had a time stamp which helped the teacher to effectively implement the timely submission rubric efficiently. The teacher could also inform the students to rework on the assignment by returning a lower grade and the student could also resubmit the same, with everything getting record through the google classroom.
The timely assessment from the teachers side was also recorded which helped in quantifying the term continuous assessment used in the lab work assessment.
At, the end of the course collated information of the students work and grade was available and it could be extracted in a downloadable excel sheet.
B. Comparison of Online lab work submission in contract to the traditional approach
Since, the individual had to submit the first part of his lab by the end of the laboratory there was very little scope for the student to copy others work. Moreover, in case of software simulation labs every induvial student was told to take unique variable associate to his unique roll-no and in case of hardware labs the handwritten observations and outputs noted were to be uploaded.
The lab course for which we implemented this approach had a weightage of 25.
The Table below gives detailed rubrics used:
Sr. No Topic Marks
Table1: Lab rubrics for assessment of lab work
The assessment through these rubrics became more effective through the google classroom as the data related to all the criteria in the table mentioned above was always available in the Google classroom. Also, the assessment using this tool became more transparent.
Since, the return of grades by the lab teacher also was associated with the time stamp the teacher was also obliged to complete timely assessment. Thus it ensured that the final grade reflected due to continuous teaching and learning efforts taken from both the sides.
Since, the observation and results of the lab are available in a more systematic way improving the quality of the lab while conducting the same course next time becomes easy.
After the final grading the results, observations, and conclusions of the lab can be shared amongst all the students which can be accessed by the students anytime for reference.
As, a teacher we also try to improve overall personality of the student and take measures to do so. In, this case since the work done had to be submitted during the lab course hours allotted, it was also observed that the students use to turn up on time and there was no need to maintain an attendance record register as their attendance was considered through their submission.
The google form was also explored to find the understanding of student trough lab related quizzes.
The paper less approach also helped in reducing the paper waste and promoting go green with all the above mentioned advantages.
C. Results and course feedback
The understanding of students was quantified on the basis of improvement in the grades in individual lab.
A lab course feedback was taken from the students through google forms. Fifty four numbers of students had participated in the feedback. The two Pie graphs fig. and fig. depict the positive feedback given by the students on submission of online laboratory work submission.
The following were the questions posted to students on lab work submission:
Since, there is an improvement in the performance of the students it will also be reflected as an increase in achievement of overall course outcome.
The course outcome mapped through laboratory work for a course conducted in 2016-17 and 2017-18 is considered to prove the same. The bar chart below gives a comparison of the same.
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Get custom essayThe paper thus puts forth an idea of submitting the laboratory work of the students online and discusses the improvement in the overall teaching learning process. The enhancement from the teacher as well the learner is evident through the various feedback and analysis done on the same. It is also observed that the there is an enhancement in the outcomes of the course due to the approach discussed in the paper.
Helen Keller once said, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” Even though the world has its problems, there are so many people that push aside those issues and change themselves or others to make the world a better place. If people let their adversity get in the way of their success then they will never go anywhere. They will be stuck in one place for the majority of their lifetime and will be thinking, is this how life will be from now on? Miserable and Depressing? Make a change to overcome your adversity. The most effective ways people can overcome adversity is by surrounding themselves with loved ones, having a positive mindset and persevering through the rough times.
Get original essayOne of the most effective ways people can overcome adversity is by surrounding themselves with loved ones. In the story from common lit, ‘Orphans Lonely Beginnings Reveal How Parents Shape a Child’s Brain’ the author, Jon Hamilton; a journalist and a science correspondent for NPR, explains how children with no parent figure in the household struggle with normal brain development. He uses personal experiences from Izidor Ruckel and an expert opinion from Charles Nelson. The more neglect the children face, the more they struggle with brain development, anxiety and even worse, depression. Children in orphanages don’t have a parent figure in their life so they have it worse. Ruckel describes the situation he lived in when he was in an orphanage and the norm was having the children smacked around. These children were treated horribly and for what reason? Ruckel did however get the benefit of the doubt because a worker at the orphanage treated him like her own child. He said that he couldn’t have been luckier to have such a kind, loving person help him out. The author uses Ruckel’s personal experience to tell the story from another perspective, ‘Then, when Ruckel was 5 or 6, his surrogate mother was electrocuted trying to heat bath water for the children in her care. Ruckel was on his own in a place where beatings, neglect and boredom were the norm.'(Hamilton) Since Ruckel and many others in the Romanian orphanage didn’t have any loved ones by their side, this just proves having your loved ones by your side will be very effective in your lifetime. Furthermore, from Psych Central, the author Tiffany Mason, a professional life and relationship coach, describes having loved ones by your side/positive people and how it helps people overcome their adversity. She says that when people are facing adversity, having positive people in their life can make them have a better outlook on things and can make their mood change for the good. When people are facing adversity and are in an emotional state of mind, it’s important for them to surround themselves with supportive and encouraging people so they know that they have people believing them instead of just themselves. They know that if things don’t get any better, than they have people that love them to fall back on to keep them going on the right track. “When experiencing adversity, it’s crucial in your development to surround yourself with people who are accepting of your flaws, mistakes, and imperfections. Overcoming adversity can be a challenge; when you have a supportive team helping you move forward, it’s much easier to accept yourself.” (Mason) When people have their loved ones by their side while facing adversity, they realize how much of an impact they have on them. They help individuals through thick and thin and support them even when they feel like they can’t go on anymore.
Having a positive mindset doesn’t just improve an individual mentally, it can help them become a better athlete, student and even an overall better person. Not to mention, having a positive mindset can also help people overcome adversity. In the story, “The New Survivors” the author Pamela Weintraub describes survivors who experienced having cancer. She uses personal experiences from these survivors to prove that even though they battled this horrible disease, they grew so much from the battle and found a way to stay strong. She tells the story of Jasan Zimmerman and how he had been battling this disease since he was a child. Death was right around the corner for him but he didn’t let that stop him from living his life. Part of the reason why he came out of this battle alive was because he had a positive mindset to offset all of the bad things going on at that time. There were times when he didn’t want to try anymore but still, he didn’t let that stop him. While battling this disease, he wasn’t in the right state of mind but once he overcame it, he was healthy, free and most importantly, happy. “In the past, the very word cancer summoned images of hopelessness, pain, and death; little thought was given to life after cancer because it was considered brief. The cancer ‘victim’ was seen as the passive recipient of ill fate and terrible luck. No more.” (Weintraub) Furthermore, from Steve Rizzo’s article, “You Can Overcome Any Challenge With A Positive Attitude” he describes his brothers situation and how he became disabled as a result of the Vietnam War. Rizzo was devastated to hear the news about his brother but what he didn’t give up was his positive attitude. However, Steve Rizzo wasn’t the only one with a positive attitude, when he was holding Michaels hand, he felt him squeeze his hand very tight. Michael was aware of what was going on and he knew right then and there that he wasn’t just going to give up on his life. He kept a positive attitude which saved his life. Without his positive attitude, he would never been able to survive this tragedy. “My brother Michael’s experience proves to me that with the right attitude, even with only one foot of intestine, all you have to do is put one foot in front of the other.” (Rizzo) Having a positive mindset is very important when an individual is facing adversity because it allows them to realize that there is still a chance that things will get better.
However, while most believe that positive thinking can help an individual overcome adversity, others don’t. Brianna Wiest wrote an article called, “Positive Thinking Won’t Change Your Life, Adversity Will” and in this article, she states that “positive thinking can for sure improve ones life but it won’t make any drastic changes. It is only forcing an individual to respond to situations that are outside of their comfort zone that will push them to reconstruct their self-image and change one day at a time.”(Wiest) According to Wiest, if one wants to overcome their adversity then having a positive mindset would not be the solution. This however is not the case because when an individual has a positive outlook on things, then they are automatically on the road to recovery. Having a positive outlook, loved ones by an individual’s side and the ability to never give up on hope are all effective ways to overcome adversity. Again, from “The New Survivors”, Jasan Zimmerman is one of the many survivors that never gave up on hope during the rigorous time. He persevered through the hardships and spoke out as an advocate to many others struggling to let them know that they are not alone. When hope feels gone, it’s not.