Development of Online Grading System Essay

Introduction The logistical problems associated with distributing, collecting, grading, and returning assignments and the difficulties in ensuring fairness and consistency in grading tend to increase non-linearly with the number of students enrolled in a class. This is especially true in project based design courses where evaluation is subjective, deliverables are team-based, and the philosophies and expectations of course faculty members may vary substantially. Online course management programs can be very helpful in the dissemination of information and the collection of grades in very large courses like those offered as part of the freshman core curriculum. However, the automated grading capabilities of these programs are generally limited to question banks with clearly defined right and wrong answers. More advanced computer-assisted grading systems have been developed for the assessment and grading of students. However, fully automated systems are still limited to applications with well-defined rules and objectives. Computer-assisted grading rubrics that guide the grading process and compile the final results are a more promising alternative. Our members report that using computer-assisted grading rubrics during essay grading reduced the grading time by half compared to traditional hand grading without a rubric and by two-thirds compared to hand grading with a rubric. In addition to the â€Å"reduced time in grading assignments,† and our other members notes that computer-assisted grading rubrics can lead to increased â€Å"validity and accuracy of grading – making grading more even handed,† increased feedback for students, and increased student satisfaction. Kurt and Gilbert also observed that the use of grading rubrics increased the consistency of grades across multiple graders, especially when teaching assistants were involved. The advantages of computer-assisted and web-based grading rubrics have led to the development of online tools for the assessment of student. However, these systems still do not fully address the problems of real and perceived teacher bias in grading, grade inflation, and professor pleasing. For example, 51% of respondents in a 20013 faculty survey on capstone design courses rated their perception of grading fairness as only â€Å"fair – I seldom hear complaints† and none rated their perception as a â€Å"all bias and distortion have been eliminated†. These types of concerns have led many students to prefer that design projects be evaluated by external jurors because they â€Å"want the jury process to be more objective and believe that the presence of external jurors will help achieve this†. This led San Sebastian to â€Å"to take professors out of the grading process† entirely and â€Å"replace them with professional evaluators who never meet the students,† who â€Å"don’t worry that students will punish harsh grades with poor reviews† and who have â€Å"no temptat ion to skew results in any way other than to judge the students’ work. This paper presents an online computer-assisted rubric-based grading website that was developed in conjunction with a distributed jury-based grading system to improve the fairness, consistency, and efficiency of grading in a large required first year project-based design course. This work provides a brief overview of the course, its deliverables, and the breakdown of the final grade. It discusses the design requirements, features, and implementation of the online grading system. Reactions from course faculty and staff members based on end-of-semester survey results are presented. Finally, the current limitations and future development directions of the online grading system are discussed. CHAPTER 1 Introduction Leader : Marchjohn Glorioso Members : Kurt Mallari Gilbert Cruz View as multi-pages

Pestel Analysis Essay

1. Explain the following concepts 1. Extended enterprise 2. Terminal delays 3. Reorder level 4. VMI 5. Pipeline inventory 2. Read the case and answer the following questions Mumbai Flour mills provide high-quality bakery flours to commercial bakers as well as to the consumer market. The commercial buyers have consistent demand and brand-loyalty, whereas consumers have minimal brand-loyalty but also generally prefer known names over store brands. Demand is seasonal for the flours with the annual break occurring just before Diwali and slacking off dramatically during January and February. To offset these both, Mumbai Flour Mills and its major supermarket chain-accounts carry out special deals and sales promotions. The Production planning Dept. of the company located at Akola, Maharashtra, has the responsibility for controlling the inventory levels at the plant warehouse at Nagpur as well as three distribution centres located at Nasik in Maharashtra, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh. Planning has been routinely based on past experience and history. No formal forecasting is performed. Distribution centres get their requirements by rai l from Nagpur. The lead time of replenishment from Nagpur to distribution centres is 7 days. The replenishment rate is 48 to 54 pallets per wagon depending upon the type of wagon used. In case of any emergency demand, eighteen pallets can be made available by truck with a 3 days transit time. Recently the company has experienced two major stock out for its consumer-size 5 Kg. sacks of refined quality white flour. One of these was due to problems in milling operations, the other occurred when marketing initiated a â€Å"buy one, get one free† coupon promotion. Since these events, the planning has become overly cautious and errs on the side having excess inventories at the distribution centres. Additionally, two other events have affected Distribution Centre’s throughput: (1) implementation of direct factory supply for replenishing the  five largest super market chains, and (2) a price increase making Mumbai Flour more expensive than its national brand competitors such a Pillsbury or TATA Maida. Of 1500 pallets in the Hyderabad Distribution Centre the Mumbai Flour Mills shows only 396 pallets for open orders. This has led the company to use outside overflow storage, where there are another 480 pallets. Flour is easily damaged; hence, Mumbai Flour Mills prefers to minimise handling. Over stocking at Distribution centres alone cost Rs. 1.85/- per pallet for outside storage to which must be added Rs. 4.25 per pallet extra handling and Rs. 225 per truckload for transportation. Similar scenarios are being played out at the other DCs as well. Mr. Mohan, the distribution manager is contemplating various approaches to solving the inventory problem. It is clear that the product must be in place at the time a consumer is making a decision to buy the product, but the company cannot tolerate the overstocking situation and the stress that it is putting on facilities and cash flow. Mr. Mohan’s first thought is â€Å"a better information system† which will provide timely and accurate information throughout the organisation. On the basis of above case answer the following: (1) Evaluate the alternative solution that could be considered by Mr. Mohan. (2) What additional solution do you propose? (3) Examine the transportation system and its drawbacks. Section 2- answer any 3 questions 3a. Explain the difference between 3 PL and 4PL 3b. What should a logistics focused organization do for customer service? 4a. Explain the concept of containerization and explain its significance in transportation 4b. Explain some important factors that decide the location of a warehouse 5a. Explain the significance of ABC analysis of inventory management 5b. Explain the significance of inventory management 6. Short notes on any 2 1. Activity based costing 2. Internal measures of performance management 3. Modern logistical infrastructures

Hate Crimes against Native Americans Essay

There have been incidents in the past wherein crime victims are people from different racial ethnicities, gender, and group affiliations. The acts perpetrated against them are sometimes motivated by hate. These acts characterize hate crime, which has been prevalent in the United States for many years. There have been periods in time when hate crimes targeted a specific racial group. Hate crimes are violent acts toward people based on race, religion and sexual orientation, and Native Americans became the usual assault victims mainly due to misconceptions of people about them. Hate Crime Hate crime is an old phenomenon that has plagued Americans for many years now. This term and the interest that society has placed on it are recent developments, although the acts associated with hate crimes have a long history. Because of its complexity and the difficulty of including all facets, it would be hard to exhaustively define hate crimes. In addition, people have different concepts of hate crimes. Defining the concept tends to be influenced by one’s social norms, political interests, and cultural differences. It would not be a surprise that there are even various academic and professional definitions of hate crimes around the world (Hall, 2005, pp. 1-2). In its simplest form, hate crimes are defined as violent acts motivated by hate and target people or organizations based on race or the group affiliation that they belong to (Hall, 2005, p. 2; American Psychological Association, 2009). Hate crimes emphasize the underlying values and character of the offenders, which sets hate crimes apart from other criminal acts. In addition, the criminal behavior that the offender exhibits is driven by â€Å"prejudices from criminal conduct motivated by lust, jealousy, greed, politics, and so forth† (Gerstenfeld & Grant, 2003, p. 304). Race and group affiliation are not the sole reasons which motivate hate crimes. In most cases, hate crime victims are targeted because of color, national origin, gender, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation (Gerstenfeld & Grant, 2003, p. 304). According to an FBI hate crime report, race outranked religious and sexual orientation as motivation of hate crimes (Ruckman, 2009). Some people engage in hate crimes because they are influenced by alcohol and drugs. However, the main reason is still based on personal prejudice which blinds people to the reality of what they are doing. Aside from these, people commit hate crimes because of a number of reasons such as experiences with members of minority groups, economic conditions, and racial stereotypes. Whatever the reason may be, one hate crime incident can result to domino effect. This is because a hate crime is not just addressed to a single person, but to the group that the victim represents. Thus, acts of hate crimes can cause fear in the entire community (Gerstenfeld & Grant, 2003, p. 304). Victims and Statistics Hate crimes can be categorized depending on the basis for the motive. The basis can be gathered from race, religion, and sexual preference. In more ways, hate crimes serve as hate messages directed to the targets. Hate crime informs the victims that they are not welcome to the community or neighborhood (American Psychological Association, 2009). Racial bias remains the main determinant of hate crimes, which affects African Ameiricans, Native Americans, Caucasians, and Asian/Pacific Islanders. This category of bias refers to the negative opinion towards groups of persons such as blacks, Asians, or whites. This bias is also based on physical characteristics. Religious bias, on the other hand, refers to the negative opinion or attitude directed towards a group of persons who have the same religious beliefs. Lastly, sexual preference bias refers to the negative opinion about a group of persons based on sexual preference (Office of the Attorney General, 2009). 1990-1995 For many years, reports were collected with regards to the prevalence of hate crimes in the United States. Since 1990, The Hate Crime Statistics Act (HCSA) was enacted to gather data on hate crimes from law enforcement agencies from all over the United States. The following year, in 1991, 4,558 cases of hate crimes were gathered from police departments in 32 states. The next year, the data recorded 7,442 incidents. In 1993, there were 7,587 hate crimes, as reported by 6,865 agencies. By 1994, the number dropped to 5,932. The number increased to 7,947 in 1995 (Anti-Defamation League, 2009). Out of this total, 41 incidents targeted Native Americans or Alaskan Natives (CivilRights, n.  d. ). A number of assaults which occurred between these periods were recorded. One such case, which occurred in August 1991, was said to be a dramatic incident of anti-Semitic hate crime. The incident occurred in Brooklyn in a motorcade for Grand Rabbi Menachem Scheerson. During the parade, a Hasidic Jew driving a car accidentally killed a black youth. This event precipitated four days of rioting full of vandalism, assault, and harassments, especially against Jews. During the riot, a 29-year-old rabbinical student was killed by a group of 15 African Americans. This incident was â€Å"one of blind, baseless bigotry and putrid violent hate† (Gerstenfeld & Grant, 2003, p. 305). There were other incidents of hate crime from 1990 t0 1995. In California alone, there were 44 documented cases wherein persons were attacked due to their sexual orientation. The most interesting finding about the cases is that most of the perpetrators were either underage or in their early 20s (Human Rights Campaign, n. d. , p. 2). 1996 In 1996, the number of hate crime incidents increased. The criminal incidents, motivated by bias, reached to 8,759. Around 60% or exactly 5,396 of these incidents were motivated by race (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1996). One percent of the incidents were against Native Americans (Central Michigan University, 2006). Incidents based on religious bias accounted for 1,401 of the total number of incidents. Incidents accounted under sexual-orientation bias were 1,016 in total. Other biases based on ethnicity account for the 946 incidents. The most common form of hate crime was intimidation, which accounted for 39% of the total incidents. Destruction or vandalism came as second while assault was third. During this year, there were 12 recorder individual murders motivated by hate, of which eight were based on racial bias. Furthermore, the detailed information gathered revealed that the state of California has the most number of hate crime incidents, accounting for 2,723 incidents out of the total number of incidents. Intimidation was also the common form of hate crime (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1996). 1997-1999 The number of hate crime incidents decreased in 1997. From 8,759 incidents in 1996, the number decreased to 8,049 in 1997. The number of incidents further decreased a year later, which accounted for 7,755. The breakdown of the cases according to bias is the following: 4,321 cases were motivated by racial bias, of which 36 were against Native Americans; 1,390 cases by religious bias; and 1,260 cases by sexual orientation. By the year 1999, the number of incidents increased to 7,876. More than 50% of the cases were motivated by racial bias, of which 47 incidents were against Native Americans; 18% motivated by religious bias; and 17% motivated by sexual orientation. Intimidation is still the number one form of hate crime (Uniform Crime Reports, â€Å"Hate Crime Statistics,† n. d. ). One of the brutal cases of hate crime within these periods occurred in 1998, when a disabled man from Texas was murdered. James Byrd, Jr. , a black man, was on his way home from a party when three men offered him a ride to which he agreed. Byrd was taken outside the town and was chained by his ankles to the back of the car. The men then drove the car, thus dragging Byrd along a logging road. Byrd died after having his arm and head ripped apart from his body. This was a traumatizing experience for the black community (Gerstenfeld & Grant, 2003, pp. 304-305). Another hate crime motivated by sexual orientation bias was committed against a gay college student, Matthew Shepard. Two men robbed and beat him with a pistol, after which they tied him to a fence in a near-freezing temperatures. He died from damages to his brain stem. Another incident took place in Alabama in 1999. Billy Jack Gaither was abducted by two men who got angry by an alleged sexual advance of Gaither. They beat him with an ax handle and set him on fire atop burning tires (Human Rights Campaign, n. d. ). 2000 By 2000, there was again an increase in the number of hate crime incidents as recorded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The number was 8,063, wherein 53. 8% accounted for racial bias, 18. 3% motivated by religious bias, and 16. 1% motivated by sexual-orientation bias. The main form of hate crime, like from the past years, is intimidation. By this year, the number of offenses against Native American increased from 47 in 1999 to 57 in 2000 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2001). Murder cases directly connected to hate crime decreased to 16, from a previous 28 in 1999. Chicago, Columbus, and Colorado have increasing murder trends while New York City, Michigan, San Francisco and Houston have decreasing trends. However, murder is just the tip of the iceberg. Out of all the hate crimes documented for the year 2000, hate crimes occurred in different forms in higher number than the murder cases. Verbal harassment has the highest number of hate crime incidents, accounting for 1,337 cases. Intimidation is also at the top of the list with 951 cases. Assault/attempted murder comes next with 786 cases. Vandalism accounts for 120 cases while robbery and sexual assaults account for 95 and 80 cases, respectively (Moore, 2001, pp. 12-13). 2001-2004 The incidence of hate crimes increased significantly during 2001. The number of incidences was 9,730, registering a 20. 7% increase. Racial bias was the leading motivation, accounting for 44. 9% (Anti-Defamation League, 2005). One percent of these incidents victimized Native Americans. This implies that one in ten hate crimes is targeted against the natives. This was said to be an interesting finding because Native Americans, along with Alaskan natives, comprise less than 1% of the U. S. population (Broyles, 2009, p. 30). Also, religious bias accounted for 18. 8% while sexual orientation bias was 14. 3%. The majority of the religious bias incidents were anti-Semitic crimes (Anti-Defamation League, 2005). The following year, FBI reported that the number of hate crime incidents decreased by almost 25%. Incidents were 7,462, as reported by FBI. As expected, racial bias was seen as the primary motivation, which accounted to almost half of all the incidents during this year (Associated Press, 2003). In addition, there was an increase in the number of incidents against Native Americans. This year, the incidents reached 62 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, n. d. ). Also, more than 19% accounted for religious bias and 16. 7% on sexual-orientation bias (Uniform Crime Reports, â€Å"Hate Crime Statistics, 2002,† n. d. ). From 2003 to 2004, the number of hate crime incidents rose by 0.  9%, from 7,489 incidents in 2003 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Division, 2005) to 7,649 in 2004 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, n. d. ). Out of the number of incidents in 2003, racial bias was again the main motivation for the crimes, religious bias followed, and then sexual orientation bias (Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Division, 2005). Again, there was an increase in the number of incidents against Native Americans, the total reaching 76 (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2004). In 2004, more than 50% accounted for incidents motivated by racial bias. Religious bias accounted for 18% of the incidents while 15. 7% accounted for sexual-orientation bias (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2005, p. 5). It would be interesting to know that crimes motivated by biases in race, religion and sexual orientation comprised a very small percentage of the total number of crimes in 2004. Crimes motivated by bias were only 0. 05% (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, 2005, p. 12). In addition, the number of incidents against Native Americans increased to 83 (federal Bureau of Investigation, n. d. ). 2005 until the present From 2005 to 2006, there was a 7. 8% increase in the number of hate crime incidents while there was a downward trend from 2006 to 2007. The data from FBI showed that racial bias was the persistent motivation for all crimes, followed by religious bias and sexual orientation bias. In addition, intimidation was the main form of hate crime, except in 2007 where the main form is destruction/damage/vandalism (Federal Bureau of Investigation, n. d. ). Native Americans as Victims Native Americans, also called American Indians, populated North America even before Europeans arrived. In fact, they have been living in the land for many years (NativeAmericans, 2007). The arrival of Europeans in America was the onset of the hate crimes that targeted Native Americans (Bureau of Justice Assistance, 1997). Europeans were materialistic and culturally arrogant that they wanted to lay claim on the land that Native Americans resided on (NativeAmericans, 2007). American Indians found the attitude of Europeans repulsive (NativeAmericans, 2007). Thus, the natives resisted the invaders. In turn, the Europeans considered the Indians as barbaric. Although most of the natives remained passive, they did not experience so much hate crime as to the near genocide of the Yuki and Cheyenne Indians. By 1848, Indians were already the subject of violence through kidnapping, sexual assault, starvation, depletion of food supplies, fraud, theft, murder, and other atrocities. It was found out that Europeans wanted to exterminate the natives to give way to White settlements. In addition, the state itself sponsored kill parties to achieve this goal (Gerstenfeld & Grant, 2003, p. 6). In lieu with the genocide, Broyles argued that not all of the deaths were done intentionally (2009, p. 29). The diseases that Europeans brought with them killed many Indians. Aside from the genocide, there were also conflicts which led to events victimizing the natives. Some of these events were the Indian Wars and the establishment of the Indian Removal Act signed by then President Andrew Jackson. The Native Americans were defenseless because they were outnumbered. Aside from this, they lacked advanced weapons and were not willing to cooperate (NativeAmericans, 2007).

Health in later life(health promotion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Health in later life(health promotion - Essay Example Despite knowing how to prevent diseases and promote well-being, the difficulty of health promotion really lies on transferring it in a manner that can be readily used by its target population (World Health Organization, 1986). After identifying the physical, psychological, financial and social changes associated with aging, this study focuses on discussing health promotion’s importance, methods and issues, in terms of it being directed to the elderly population. It should be noted that with the advancements in medicine, life expectancy has been continuously increasing dramatically (Schoeni, Freedman and Wallace, 2005). Statistics show that certain diseases, such as cancer and heart diseases, are more prevalent among the elderly. Physiologic aging causes changes in taste sensation, bone and muscular weakness, resulting in a loss of appetite, poor nutrition and decrease in mobility (Saxon, Etten and Perkins, 2009). In fact, muscle strength decreases by 15% per decade for those older than 50 and by 30% for those aged 70 and above, primarily due to sarcopenia, or loss of muscle mass, which is common among women than men (Nied and Franklin, 2002). Limitations in activities of daily living had been found to decrease life expectancy by almost three years (Lubitz, et al., 2003). Malnutrition contributes to weaker immune system, making them more at risk of acquiring infections such as high-risk community acquired pneumonia (Saxon, Etten and Perkins, 2009). Financial status is also an issue for the elderly, because they are usually retired or unemployed, limiting their resources (Naduva, 2007). In addition, those with difficulties in activities of daily living have an expected cumulative expenditure greater by almost $10, 000 than those without functional disability. Those who were admitted in institutions also spend considerably greater than those

Career Objectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Career Objectives - Essay Example As the discussion highlights managing a business requires a lot of time, dedication, effort and skill.   By going for an Executive MBA in Oxford University, he will have the opportunity to gain useful skills related to business administration without disrupting my personal goals, family life and business activities.   He believes an MBA in the Prestigious University will enable me learn in a multi-cultural and competitive environment, something that is of great value if he has to succeed beyond the borders of his country Russia. Innovation is something that drives the entrepreneur in whatever venture they engage in. An MBA from the University of Oxford will equip me with the necessary skills that are needed to view the world as a place where there are inexhaustible opportunities. Once the reporter is able to identify the opportunities that exist in the market, he will be able to make sound business decision   that will translate into profits, and possibly a better world as he s eeks to fulfill people’s needs.This essay declares that  the reporter is a person with a passion for business and would always like to see every venture that he engages in succeed greatly. As a person interested in entrepreneurship, the reporter needs to understand every aspect of business administration and management.  One of the reporter's greatest dreams is to see his company go beyond the borders of Russia and penetrate the very competitive European market.  

Risk Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Risk Analysis - Essay Example Additionally, risk can be defined as the probability(No author, 2000) of an event multiplied by the cost of the event. The following paragraphs explain the nuances of the different risk management techniques. There are many Risk management techniques. Avoidance is one type of risk management technique. Also, modification is another type of risk management technique(No author, 2000). Further, Retention is a very viable risk management technique. Lastly, Sharing is another popular risk management technique. To complete, risk reduction is very good alternative. Avoidance - Whenever an organization cannot offer a service while ensuring a high degree of safety, it should choose avoidance as a risk management technique(Drucker, 1980). Do not offer programs that pose too great a risk. In some cases avoidance is the most appropriate technique because a nonprofit simply doesn't have the financial resources required to fund adequate training, supervision, equipment, or other safety measures. Avoidance even includes not performing an activity that could produce risk. For example, A person would be discouraged to buying a property or business in order to avoid taking on the liability that comes with it. Another example is that a project manager would be not flying in order to avoid taking the risk that the airplane would be hijacked. Avoidance may seem the answer to all risks, However, avoiding risks also means losing out on the possible gain that accepting (retaining) the risk may have allowed. An organization that does not enter a business to avo id the risk(Strickland, 1999) of loss also avoids the possibility of earning profits. Avoidance is a good risk management technique. Modification - Modification(Wheelen, 1996) is be clearly defined as changing an activity to make it safer for all involved. Many policies and procedures can be made as examples of risk modification. For example, an organization that is very concerned about the risk of using unsafe drivers may include an additional DMV record check to its current screening process. Also, an annual road test for all drivers can now be implemented compulsorily. For clarity, an organization that is also concerned about the lack of male and female chaperones for an overnight camping trip could modify its policies and procedures by modifying the night camp activities into hosting a day-long mountain hike and picnic instead. The night male only shift guards in the company project(Papows, 2002) could be modified to an male and female shift status because there are female night shift employees working the graveyard hours. Modification is good if it improves project performance.Retention - Retention could be done on two areas. The first area is by retention of project design(Campbell, 1998). For example, a project manager may decide that the implementation of a new project process with the new techniques aren't as suitable as the original project process design because the new process will cause

Why At-Risk Students Are in Such a Situation, Solutions Research Paper

Why At-Risk Students Are in Such a Situation, Solutions - Research Paper Example The issues expose students to severe conditions that make them terminate school, knowledge acquisition and furthering their careers. This latest trend is sending mixed signals to the world with scholars asserting that it may lead to a low supply of qualified human capital. This condition may also jeopardize innovation and creativity stalling the production of new items that meet the current technological needs of consumers. The scholars also assert that a high number of students who are not succeeding academically may expose society to high crime rates. This is because nations will generate several individuals who are not productive economically due to the lack of credible sources of income. The trend would also affect peace initiatives and general economic growth in various nations. This calls for the immediate development of a viable plan to mitigate issues that hinder students from attaining high academic achievements. These students need to receive proper career guidance and moti vation from teachers. They also need to be convinced to go to school and get valuable teachings on the benefits of education in their lives by key stakeholders in the education sector. Consequently, it is necessary to discuss challenges in the education sector while focusing on at risk. As noted by Lynn (1997), the number of students who are not successful academically is increasing. The increase is attributable to various complications that touch on social, economic, and political processes. These challenges hamper the capacity to record exemplary performance in diverse aspects. Firstly, poverty is a critical element that drives most learners away from school meaning that several students are performing dismally because they lack money to pay for their tuition expenses.