Organism patenting in Africa Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Organism patenting in Africa - Coursework Example They practiced these methods using DNA that was recombinant. Sometime after, Organism patenting was allowed after certain methods were seen fit to help with development and inventions. Patenting was allowed with one cardinal rule; that the patenting of living organism was and should be man-made. Since 1980, there have been many experiments that have been the result of patenting of the genetically modified organisms. Patenting of an organism includes the use of bacteria, viruses, certain seeds and plants. Another group of organisms that can be used is non-human species, particularly animals (Kankanala, 127, 2007).  Patenting does not only occur to the above named species. They can also occur from human cells, though these have to be in an isolated and manipulated state. Plants that are seemingly new and their seeds can be patented. Patenting does not come without its cost. There have been controversies that have gathered up from the time patenting occurred and has mostly been influe nced by the concern over the expense of certain patented medicines and other tests. There have also been concerns with genetically modified food which has brought concern as to whether the food originated from genetically modified seeds. Another main concern has been whether the farmers who plant the seeds of these plants have a right to harvest and plant the seeds. Each state has their own law regarding patenting rights, and some may allow certain patenting methods and organisms to be used while others may not. In this essay, attention will be paid towards patenting in Africa. Africa has been known to have issues with food, disease and health. Patenting in Africa is brings about stability and improve the living condition by ensuring that organisms patented can be able to survive; that plants can be able to tolerate the unfavorable conditions of the soil topography (Kankanala, 158, 2007).   There is one issue however; organism patenting seems to do more harm than good. This is bec ause despite the development of these organisms in order to make them more enhanced and beneficial, certain setbacks have proven to shake the foundation of the patenting scheme. For the negative feedbacks that are gotten from these experiments, it is the end user who is suffering, not the inventor. Take a case where certain bacteria is modified, patented and is introduced into a community that has had problems with the plants systems and animals, in that their survival is challenged. If the modified bacteria solution does not go as planned; say after harvesting the crops and consuming them, those who will suffer the most will be the end users. What this means is that scientists are just using people as experimental objects. They do not take responsibility and they must be liable to pay for their wrong doings. In a seemingly good society, they have introduced and organism that instead of doing a positive thing has turned out to be hazardous. It can be argued as a violation, but then again they may argue that it was just an experiment gone wrong. When patenting is done, it is done with the intention of making things and the lives of people more comfortable and lively. When this does not happen; when the opposite of good happens, responsibility is not taken by anyone. Many individuals have become ill because of the consumption of patented bacteria; have become more ill because maybe the virus that was patented has not served its purpose, or

Communication mix Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Communication mix - Essay Example Communication mix is one of the most important promotional tools, or marketing functions used in the implementations of marketing campaigns. Modern commercial advertising is the persuasive force that aims at changing customers' attitudes and pattern of behaviour to a product or service in ways, which would be favourable to the seller. This is necessary as the needs and wants of consumers continually change as they pass through the different economic stages of the family life cycle. The relative importance of advertising has been determined by the qualities it can add to a marketing campaign in the travel and tourism sector. Additional elements of the communication mix compliment advertising however they are not significant or effective enough to replace advertising within this sector. The essential process of communication involves sending messages to potential consumers using a variety of methods in order to create awareness and understanding of why people should purchase a specific product or service. If the method of communication is the most appropriate, then there is a possibility that the potential consumer will buy the product or service. The simple aim being to raise awareness levels, generate interest and to enhance brand development amongst consumers. Advertising is just one element of the 'communications mix'. The simple aim being to raise awareness levels, generate interest and to enhance brand development amongst consumers. Advertising is one of the most important promotional tools, or marketing functions used in the implementation of marketing campaigns. This is due to its persuasive force that aims at changing customers' attitudes and patterns of behaviour to a product or service in ways, which would be favourable to the seller. This is necessary as the needs and wants of consumers continually change as they pass through the different economic stages of the family life cycle. Advertising, along with other components of the 'communications mix' also helps to identify brand identities, the idea being that customers see these identities as being tantamount with quality and dependability. To inform potential customers and users of the existence of the product which can be valuable to the prospective customer To remind existing users of the continued existence of the product and improvements. To regain lost customers and accounts. To stimulate enquiries Analysis Bad Communication Plan: Red Bull How should Red Bull market its brand in the future even though Red Bull has been very successful in the pervious years , but now times have changed thus the organization as well as products must change as well , or else red bull will most likely lose market share to the numerous competitors in a matter a few years . In the early morning and mid night, Red Bull energy drink was once the selected by the people of every field. But nowadays it marketing communication plan has become worn-out, it is old fashioned and not

Organisational Change Management Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Organisational Change Management - Dissertation Example However, the recent economic downturn has had a big impact on demand and the company is struggling to survive. It has formulated a new strategy that focuses on cutting costs as quickly as possible and to this end it has decided to stop producing some components and to concentrate the production of other components at fewer sites in order to benefit from economies of scale. This decision is still to be announced. It is possible that many of the B2 product development engineers may be reluctant to relocate. Employees at the other sites in Spain and France are likely to be worried that this may only be the first of many changes. Definition The primary underlying and the key issues of the case provided are discussed ahead. Before defining the problem, there is a need to have a brief look at the company holistically. D2, a car components manufacturing company has been a well renowned company for years and has been able to remain competitive over years since its establishment. The company has been able to maintain a good ROI that is return on investment and growing shareholder value by producing innovatively, investment in new technology and staff development. ... The company gets reluctant to spend on the marketing side too so cutting these costs may impact any sort of business especially big businesses like D2. There is a possibility that in such a situation the dividends may slump too or may be disappearing of completely. The shareholders may get worried. As the stock of manufacturer starts to falls and the dividends decline, the  institutional investors  that hold the stock are likely to sell it off and reinvest into stocks that are performing better. This will even more depress the stock price of the company (Cascio, 2002). Moreover the company may get bankrupted as the impact of recession can also lead to the slow, partial, late, or may be no return by the accounts receivable. This results in the company failing to pay its bills and meet its other costs and eventually there will be a reduction in the valuation of the company’s bonds and its ability to get the financing. This can have a great impact on the company’s cred it rating also that will prevent borrowing as it fails to pay the interest on the money previously borrowed (Redman and Wilkinson, 2006). The company in this situation like D2 likes to cut the cost buy cutting down the number of employees and increasing the work load of the remaining employees after the lay off. Productivity will be required to increase per employee but the morale of the employee may get lowered under such a situation. Despite of the increased work load the company fails to offer additional bonuses and compensation packages to its remaining employees leading to an even lowered morale level (Gandolfi, 2008). For companies like D2 which is a manufacturing company the company may be forced to close

Financial Risk (Masters Level) Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Financial Risk (Masters Level) - Coursework Example It indicates the highest possible loss amount, which some portfolio will likely lose within a given time period at specified confidence level. A good example would be 95% daily VaR for $1 Million, could mean the likely hood for the same portfolio to lose over a million dollars within a worst day happens to be below 5%. In no way does this mean that such portfolio may not lose over a million dollars. The truth is that over one hundred days, the portfolio would be expected to lose over $1 million for five time approximately. In addition, this does not mean that an individual would not collectively loose significantly more along a longer horizon. Banks, mutual funds, hedge funds as well as other financial service companies or even brokers can utilize value at Risk. Most of such firms use VaR in prediction of size of outlying losses of the future, or even gains that their portfolios or those of their clients might experience (Ran & Jin, 2008: p 1). Most firms make use of VaR in the determination of needed collateral from an execution customer for some margin loan utilized in trading financial instruments, for instance. Buy-side entities like hedge funds make use of VaR in determining whether the allocation of a portfolio does exceed investment mandate or a current risk tolerance (BPL, 2015, 2). Despite the fact that VaR was not used broadly before mid-1990s, the measure’s origin date further back in time. Markowitz Harry and others developed the mathematics, which underlie VaR in portfolio theory context (Glyn, 200:p 32). However, their efforts aimed at a different destination (devising equity investors’ optimal portfolios). Specifically market risk focus as well as the co-movements effects in such risks are core to the manner in which VaR is computed (Ronald, Kees, & Rachel, 1999: P 2). The Motivation for VaR measures utilization, though, arose from the crises, which affected financial service firma through time as well as supervisory responses to such

Exam 1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Exam 1 - Assignment Example There are 44 questions, be sure to answer them all. MULTIPLE CHOICE (1 pt each) 1. Which of the following includes all the others? A) atom B) cell C) organism D) ecosystem 2. In science, a hypothesis must be A) testable B) a known fact C) able to be proven absolutely true D) derived from a theory 3. A chlorine atom has 17 protons, 18 neutrons, and 17 electrons. The atomic number of chlorine is A) 8 B) 17 C) 35 D) 52 4. If you place the probe of a pH meter in an unknown liquid and it reads pH 1, the liquid is A) an acid B) neutral C) a base 5. This polysaccharide forms fibers that are a major component of plant cell walls: A) glucose B) cellulose C) starch D) glycogen 6. Glycerol is a building block of A) starch B) enzymes C) vegetable oil D) DNA 7. Which of these types of molecules contain nitrogen? A) proteins B) phospholipids C) polysaccharides 8. Prokaryotic cells, with no nucleus or membranous organelles, are found in A) animals B) bacteria C) fungi D) plants 9. If the concentrat ion of glucose in the water outside of a cell is lower than the concentration inside, A) water will tend to leave the cell by osmosis B) water will tend to enter the cell by osmosis C) glucose will tend to leave the cell by osmosis D) glucose will tend to enter the cell by osmosis 10. ... Which of these does not have to be present for photosynthesis to occur? A) water B) carbon dioxide C) glucose D) chlorophyll 13. The oxygen in our atmosphere is produced by A) photosynthesis B) cellular respiration C) greenhouse effect D) volcanic eruptions 14. Yeast cells break down glucose anaerobically into A) ethanol and CO2 B) lactic acid and CO2 C) lactic acid and H2O D) ethanol and H2O 15. The net energy gain from complete cellular respiration is A) 2 ATP B) 4 ATP C) 8 ATP D) 36-38 ATP 16. Carbon dioxide is released in A) the light-dependent phase of photosynthesis B) the Calvin cycle C) glycolysis D) the Krebs cycle 17. Which of the following is not a characteristic of enzymes? A) they are proteins B) they speed up the rate of chemical reactions C) they act on specific substances called substrates D) they are used up in each reaction, thus need to be produced in large quantities 18. Each new cell produced by this process will have an identical copy of all chromosomes and gene s possessed by the parent cell: A) meiosis B) mitosis 19. During the first division of meiosis, A) homologous chromosomes separate B) chromosomes separate at the centromere C) chromosomes become triploid 20. The number of chromosomes in a human sperm cell is A) 4 B) 8 C) 23 D) 46 21. Exchange of genes between maternal and paternal chromosomes before the first division of meiosis is caused by A) crossing over B) X-linkage C) cytokinesis D) replication 22. If a heterozygous male mates with an albino female, what percentage of albino children would be expected? A) 0% B) 25% C) 50% D) 75% E) 100% 23. Queen Victoria's son Leopold had hemophilia, which is caused by a sex-linked recessive gene (Xh). Leopold lived to be 31 years old and fathered a normal daughter. What is the

Angles and Demons by Dan Brown Essay Example for Free

Angles and Demons by Dan Brown Essay Angles and Demons by Dan Brown was a reading choice out of curiosity rather than real interest because of the Da Vinci Code by the same author. I wanted to see what other works of fiction Dan Brown came up with before his controversial book. This book had me raising my eyebrows more than a few times with story line but that did not stop me from turning the pages until I got to the end. Angels and Demons basically follows the same formula as the Da Vinci Code. It begins with a murder which only Robert Langdon seems capable of solving with his knowledge of religious iconology and history; a strong female character, Vittoria Vetra, daughter to the murder victim Leonardo Vetra, assists Langdon in his â€Å"quest†; a hired assassin who is delusional, a fanatic and has unquestionable loyalty to his belief carries out an unforeseen but well-crafted plan; an ancient secret society, the Illuminati, is out to get revenge on the Church; finally, an unexpected mastermind who calls himself as Janus, works behind the curtains. An anti-matter canister was stolen from CERN when Leonardo Vetra was murdered and this is assumed to have a life span of 24 hours before the batteries die and it explodes. Brown remains true to using archaic bits of knowledge to leave a trail for Robert Langdon and Vittoria Vetra to follow from Switzerland to the Vatican City in order to find the missing anti-matter canister and find the murderer of Leonardo Vetra. The plot thickens when the anti-matter canister bomb threatens the Vatican and the conclave in the process of choosing the new Pope. The book ends dramatically with a seemingly miraculous event followed by the declaration of a new Pope. Though I enjoyed the chase more from Angels and Demons rather than the Da Vinci Code, I must say that, as a priest, Brown seems have some issues with the Church to come up with troubling concepts for his books. First you have Leonardo Vetra, a priest who turns away from the Church. He becomes a leading physicist of CERN and, together with his adopted daughter, tries to find God through science and research. They seem to be successful with the development of the anti-matter, which was stolen when Vetra was murdered. You also have a Pope who sired a child with a nun, though through artificial means. The child later becomes his camerlengo, the Pope’s Chamberlain. The camerlengo, Carlo Ventresca, unaware of his paternal parentage, murders the Pope upon knowing his dark secret with the belief that he is both cleansing and protecting the Church. Though the book is admittedly a work of fiction, it borders on tarnishing how Catholics and non-Catholics may view the Church and its priests. Brown puts into question the honesty and loyalty of priests to the Mother Church and their commitment to the vow of celibacy, as seen with the Pope. It is appalling to think that Jesus’ surrogates on Earth would be the first ones to violate their vows. Brown also pits religion versus science. Leonardo Ventra is murdered for his research on anti-matter which can supposedly prove the beginning of life, that science can prove God’s existence. I’d like to think that religion is a matter of faith and science is a matter of fact, the two just can’t mix when it comes to explaining God. Then you have the camerlengo who is himself delusional and a fanatic in his belief that the Church, and not science, is the saving power of the world with himself at the wheel of salvation. He goes to great lengths to get the world’s attention, discredit Science and put the Church on a pedestal for the world to see. Angels and Demons made me uncomfortable with the image of the Church that it created – a divided, secretive, vindictive and vulnerable body. Readers, both Catholics and non-Catholics should be discriminating of the events in this book, lest they forget that this is only a work of fiction.

Terrorism: The Biggest Threat To International Relations?

Terrorism: The Biggest Threat To International Relations? Contemporary international relations refer to the state of affairs during the period that began in the late 1980s with the end of the Cold War. The fall of communism and the assumed victory of liberal democracy had many, such as Francis Fukuyama, hopeful for an End of History and a New World Order of peace and collective security between all states. The truth of the international situation revealed certain issues and threats -new and old that much of the international community have since had to face. This essay will aim to assess the extent to which terrorism is the most significant threat to contemporary international relations, whilst also suggesting other factors that have created danger; such as climate change ,the proliferation of nuclear arms. It will conclude that whilst the prolonged and unknown potential danger that climate change poses to the planet is arguably the most catastrophic, the strain and instability of the acquisition of nuclear arms and the difficulty of contr olling who has access to them, causes it to be the biggest threat that the international community has to face. Terrorism, defined by Douglas Lackey, is, the threat of the use of violence against non-combatants for political purposes.  [2]  The very characteristics of terrorism makes it a threatening prospect for any state, as any violent act, [where] the civilian is the direct and intentional target of attack,  [3]  causes a great deal of difficulty in its prevention. Globalisation, the advancement in technology and the growth of cities whilst improving living standards for many civilians has made more locations prime targets for terrorists. Terrorist acts have become more sophisticated and increased the risk of multiple casualties using many forms of attack; arson, suicide bombers and remote detonated bombs, hacking into a states infrastructure and intelligence networks. Terrorism itself is not a new or recent phenomenon; the problem that the international community faced, and still faces in the Post Cold War period, is a change in the nature of terrorism. During and prior to the Cold War, terrorism was often an intra-state occurrence and a symptom of political separatism and instability within a country. Examples of this are the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Tamil Tiger rebels; both of which caused civil wars in Ireland in the 1920s and in 1983 in Sri Lanka. Whilst this is still mainly the case for many African, Middle and Far Eastern countries, the western world has seen an increase in inter-state terrorism. Arguably intra-state terrorism is easier to combat, due to the fact that intra-state terrorists tend to have a clearer and more precise focus; such as the police or members of the entrepreneurial class; which makes it easier for the state authorities to target and track down. On the other hand, terrorist organisations with a religious objective give a broader scope of the enemy. This may lead to a perception in which every member of a different religion or creed becomes a potential enemy or a potential target. It is this re ligious variant of terrorism that has increased after the Cold War and is at the centre of current international discussions. According to Europols EU Terrorism Report carried out in 2007  [4]  and 2008,  [5]  there were almost 500 acts of terrorism across the European Union in 2006, with a 24% increase in the next year. Whilst most of these attacks were intra-state related an increased amount were by Islamist terror groups from outside the EU. The US and parts of Russia and North Africa have seen similar patterns occurring, showing that this form of terrorism is not a matter for individual states to deal with, but acts that are aimed at the global community . whilst arguably this can, and has, strengthened the relations between co-operating countries, it has placed strains on relations between other states, and subsequently hinders the progression towards international peace and collective security agreements; which is key in current international relations. This is because for certain states, terrorism and its prevention are not high on their foreign policy agenda. In some severe cases there are instances of the support of global terrorism. The US Department of State recognises four countries to be state-supporters of terrorism;  [6]  Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. All are known to have been terrorist safe havens for several terrorist groups, whilst some such as Iran and Syria have politically and financially supported groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. By failing to take action against the threat of terrorism to the international community and in some cases promoting it these states become isolated as enemies of the counterterrorism Global Initiative  [7]  and the United Nations. The effects of this are sanctions, such as restrictions on foreign aid, controls on exports and financial restrictions, placed on these enemy states by the members of the initiative; isolating them further and, , causing a sense for more terrorist action to be taken against the international community. If these state-supported terrorist groups successfully carry out an attack against another state, this action has the potential to become a trigger or catalyst for state military retaliation against the supporter; as seen with the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan after the 9/11 bombings in New York. This clearly causes a step backwards for UN peace agreements which clearly states the need to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism.  [8]   As well as state support of terrorism hindering international relations, so too does the expansion of the grey-areas of where the roots of terrorism lie. Recruitment and training grounds are now vast, with evidence now suggesting that there is a reason for a, fear of the enemy within  [9]  . Data from multiple sources has pointed towards an increase in terrorist organisations recruiting from within the states at the heart of the terrorist aggression. The global reach of Al-Qaeda is a source of great concern as more than 3,000 of its members have been arrested in 98 countries since the 9/11 attack; evidence that this group exists in at least half the worlds countries. This factor challenges previously accepted state-intelligence, that inter-state terrorism can be location specific to rogue or failing states outside the targeted state itself. This increases the threat levels, as no clear idea of who the enemy is creates instability and a need for increased defence levels. It is als o difficult to establish the source of the terrorists finance. As previously mentioned this can be acquired from the governments of terrorist-supporting states, but can also be acquired by the groups themselves setting up commercial businesses that provide a flood of sources of finance for its operations. Hence, law enforcement and intelligence agencies must now identify these sources of funding in order to destroy their ability to operate. But with some organisations such as Jemaah Islamiah connected to around 50 commercial businesses, this is a complex and expensive process for states to carry out.  [10]   Some cynics such as Daniel Wagner have stated that, no matter how good security becomes, it will never be good enough to thwart all of the terrorist threats we face.  [11]  To an extent this is true. Even if collectively the international community does manage to discover the sources of terrorism, it is not likely that they would be able to put a stop to terrorism altogether due to the fact that it has now become something of an ever-changing ideology. Al Qaeda is an example of this. During the Cold War the group aimed at expelling the Soviets from Afghanistan. Once this was achieved, attentions focused on fighting what they thought was the corruptness of the Arab world. Recently, the objective has changed to fighting and targeting those who are considered to be the main outside supporters of these corrupt regimes a clear reference to the US with its very substantial strategic interest in that part of the world.  [12]  This aggressive fight for a continually shifting goal su ggests that no matter how hard states battle against groups like Al Qaeda, it is unlikely the war on terror will ever end. However threatening and incessant terrorism is to international affairs, it is arguably within state power and resources, especially in the western world, to singularly or collectively combat it. Governments have the advantage of finance and institutions, such as Counter-Terrorist Units and federal bureaus, with extensive resources especially to deter terrorist acts. Through the use of international relations and international organisations such as the UN and NATO, the amount of resources and expertise can be jointly used in order to overcome the problems faced by terrorism. It could therefore be argued that terrorism in some respects supports the idea of collective security as it forces good international relations and links states with a common goal: to destroy its threat potential, even if it cannot destroy terrorism altogether. Due to the power that states have in accordance with their state sovereignty, arguably the proliferation of nuclear arms is a threat more potent than that faced from rebel terrorist forces. The catastrophic capabilities of nuclear weapons of any kind are highly threatening for any state, but in the past this had led to a stalemate that was the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union. This has come to be known as the first nuclear age and ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the subsequent relinquish of nuclear arms by the Ukraine and other former soviet states to the primary control of Russia. Whilst splitting the international stage in two and with the threat of nuclear war hanging over the world, it was, on the whole, a rather stable conflict fought between two superpowers. Many critics are now suggesting that the second nuclear age, which had begun subsequently, will be notoriously unstable and carry with it a greater threat of nuclear war. This age is far more complex, as countries such as Israel, India, Pakistan, China, Iran and North Korea now all have their own nuclear programs; and with countries such as Iran and North Korea both having deep nationalistic feelings, they are arguably prone to destructive visions of national dominance;  [13]  having access to nuclear arms places a great strain on relations with these states with others such as the US. The fact that Iran is known for supporting some terrorist groups increases the threat of nuclear terrorism against the west and Israel. Many other states that wish to obtain nuclear weapons, especially those in Africa, are now choosing to spend state funds on their acquisition rather than their conventional military forces. This can often lead these states to become dependent upon their nuclear weapons; which makes all-out nuclear war all the more likely. However what creates the most strain on relations arguably is the fact that it would appear that there is the consensus among a few that it is acceptable for certain states to retain their nuclear programs but others cannot even start or continue their own. Whilst arguably in support of the UNs non-proliferation program, todays emerging nuclear states have a great difficulty in getting the international institutions to allow them to have any nuclear capabilities. States are forced to give up their programs under international pressure, but also due to the influence of the US. This often causes animosity between the nuclear-weapon states and those seeking a nuclear program. As seen recently with the case of Iran, the US and European Union has tried to persuade other countries such as Russia and China to start placing sanctions against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for refusing to relinquish its nuclear program. Whilst some would say that this is hypocritical of the nuclear-weapon stat es, it would appear they are seeking to set an example. On 8th April 2010, the two former Cold War Superpowers, and the current two largest nuclear powers in the world, the US and Russia, signed a new treaty that promised the 30% reduction of their nuclear armoury. President Obama stated himself that, By upholding our own commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we strengthen our global efforts to stop the spread of these weapons, and to ensure that other nations meet their own responsibilities; a clear sign to other states that they do have the right to a moral high-ground placing pressure on Iran and the like. The issue of climate change came to the forefront of international politics towards the end of the Cold War with the first UN Conference on the Human Environment at Stockholm in 1972. Since then the threat that climate change poses to the modern world has been a top priority for all UN member states. Perhaps what makes this issue so threatening is the lack of control and the influence climate change can have within our societies. Atmospheric pollution can lead to the degradation in biodiversity which in turn threatens our food supplies, fossil fuels are set to deplete severely within the next fifty years; all of which are going to place enormous pressure on international relations. It is likely to affect the poorer countries first increasing the need for international aid on already stretched resources. This could lead certain states into pull out of the idea of collective security and focus on their own survival, thereby tearing through the international agreements and treaties put in place to prevent the affects of climate change. The community is already witnessing the reluctance of some states such as the US and China to cut down on their carbon emissions, as stated in the Kyoto Agreement, due to the adverse repercussions on their respective economic performance. This sets a precedent that makes collective action by all UN states extremely difficult as a lack of trust in the collective initiative depleats. It would appear therefore that some environmental policies are more popular than others. Whilst the fact that the world is running out of the natural resources , that we as humans have come to depend on, is a cataclysmic notion, the threat of climate change has arguably brought many parts of the international community together towards a common goal: the protection of the entire planet and therefore the continuation of the human race. Despite the fact that many of the summits held to voice the issues facing the environment has sometimes been ineffective, as seen with the Copenhagen summit in 2009, and caused rifts between states, there have been breakthroughs that suggest that progression can be made. The fact that climate change can cause so many repercussions into our manmade issues, such as the distribution of resources and the population problem, there is very little that the international community can do to stop it. It can only hope to slow its progression down. The global society faces far bigger threats within human control with the proliferation of nuclear weapo ns that could lead to the premature destruction of the world if placed in the wrong hands. Improving Student Engagement | Literature Review Improving Student Engagement | Literature Review Warwick, P., Hennessy, S. Mercer, N. (2011) Promoting teacher and school development through co-enquiry: developing interactive whiteboard use in a dialogic classroom. The authors reason for conducting the study was to show that an interactive whiteboard (IWB) can be a key classroom tool and that it can be used as a vital instrument in dialogic manor. The authors, Paul Warwick, Sara Hennessy and Neil Mercer, report on the works of three classroom teachers, who confidently use an interactive whiteboard (IWB) in their classrooms. The authors clearly state that they wanted to conduct their study because Given the pervasiveness of IWBs in the UK, we wished to explore the development of its uses in the classroom where there was a dialogic pedagogy. (Warwick, Hennessy and Mercer, 2011, p. 303). It is obvious from the start that the authors firmly believe that IWBs play a major part in a childrens learning and that an IWB is a crucial resource when it comes to teaching practices today. Their argument is reinforced by their suggestions in the hypothesis. The authors also state that an IWB plays a key part in maintaining a childs engagement during their learning. However this is the first point of the research where the authors can be criticised for not recognising that there are a number of different factors and methods that can influence a childs commitment and engagement to learning. Some different examples of other factors that can have an influence on a childs engagement with their learning can be seen in the Four aces of effective teaching Ace 3: Engagement (Walls, 1999). One method mentioned is that a class teacher should limit a discussion to no more than 30 minutes before introducing a learning activity (Walls Cather, 1987). This learning activity doesnt need to be one using an IWB; it can be done on paper etc. All the way through this research paper Warwick, Hennessy and Mercer make numerous claims about IWB and the way teachers use them. However, there are studies that have shown that teachers have only been considered capable when they have grasped specific technological skills, such as using an IWB. An example of an article that states this is one conducted by the Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (1992), they state that technology is a teachers liberator to help re-establish the role and value of the classroom teacher. Teachers must enter into collaboration or partnership with technology in order to create a community that nurtures, encourages, and engages the learning processes. Nevertheless, Warwick, Hennessy and Mercer (2011) dispute this by stating that it is in fact the classroom teacher that is vital in stimulating dialogic approach not the IWB. However they do state that the IWB does have an important role in the classroom, but this is only correct when it is used in an engaging and suitable manner in the classroom. To conclude, the information gathered from the research shows that IWB play a key role in the classroom, but they shouldnt be seen as being a replacement for teaching or the classroom teacher. This study highlights the need of a teacher and that they need to develop relationships with children in their class so that they can conduct solid lessons that will engage their pupils, which will then lead onto developing dialogical pedagogy. I believe that additional studies are needed when it comes to the outcomes of the use of IWBs in the classroom. Simon et al. (2008) Puppets promoting engagement and talk in science. The impacts of using puppets in classrooms has become a popular research point for writers. During the same time period of Simon et al. (2008) writing about the impacts of puppet use in the classroom, there was also a similar research going on with the impact of puppets in Maths lessons. However, the main focus of the authors writing this article was to conclude whether or not the use of puppets in science lessons, stimulated the pupils to be more actively involved in their science lessons and also to see if the puppets could encourage childrens talk in science lessons. The research was designed to conclude weather the use of large puppets would help teachers to change their whole class discourse (Simon et al., (2008), p.1229) in their science lessons. A key strength of the research for the article was that it focuses on a vast amount of different ideas. The research was carried out by a mixture of teachers, across two different regions, interviewing two different age groups; 7-9 and 10-11, and the teachers had the option of using one or two puppets. From the research of Neil Mercer and Lyn Dawes (2008) about exploratory talk, the authors of this article discuss the importance of communication with other children, so that the children have the skill to critically participate with their peers and their peers ideas. Simon et al. (2008) claims that the use of puppets assists in this area. When children start to enter a more in depth conversation with the puppet, the puppet can provide encouragement or interest in the childs responses, which then generates talk which involves the whole class, or talk on a peer to peer level. Therefore, from using the puppet can promote reasoning, problem solving and explanations, which are all key factors in science lessons. The research that was carried out for this article was strong in various ways. Firstly, the focus wasnt just in a single school, it was in two different areas of England; Manchester and London. Secondly, there were two different age groups that were examined, and both of these groups had pupils who had a different response to the puppets. Thirdly, the teachers had the option to introducing a single puppet to the class, or they could introduce two puppets to the class. Some teachers used two puppets in a lesson whilst others used only one. Though using two puppets enabled teachers to set up discussion by getting the puppets to put forward opposing views, teachers found that one puppet was much simpler to use whilst still making it possible to present problems and to set up cognitive conflict. (Simon at al., (2008) p. 1243) Finally, the use of the pilot study to find out more information and gain more of an understanding into the use of puppets helped finalise the main study for the ar ticle. Therefore, because of the strong research strategy, the final research produces remarkable but rigorous results. One of the main disadvantages of this study was that training the teachers to correctly and effectively use the puppets acquired a lot of time. Even though this was good for the research side, the amount of time spent of training the teachers wouldnt be practical for every teacher, especially teachers in larger schools. This then brings up an issue; if teachers dont have experience with puppets and havent had training would the puppets be as effective as they were during the research stage. Overall, this article has proven that using a puppet during science lessons has been effective when trying to create talk. This has been backed up from the interviews, with pupils and teachers. The interviews also revealed that pupils who are often more shy and dont contribute as much in lessons, were more confident during lessons where a puppet was used as they felt at ease talking to a puppet. In my own practice, I will be using a puppet throughout the curriculum as I feel that the use of a puppet will engage the children and improve class and pupil discussions. However, before I feel fully confident in using a puppet, I will practice with a smaller group and build up to using the puppet in front of the whole class. Brown K Kennedy H (2011) Learning through conversation: exploring and extending teacher and childrens involvement in classroom talk School Psychology International 32 (4) pp377-396 This article discusses the professional development progression over a twelve week period, that six teachers in the UK, who work at a school with children who have been recognised has having social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The main research area for the article is focused on how teachers use conversation in their class to help integrate childrens ideas and link these to the learning progression. Through reflective and exploratory discussion, enhanced by videos of interactive sequences within classes, teachers explored and developed aspects of their interactional styles. Brown K Kennedy H (2011) One of the key strengths of the research is that two educational phycologists (EPs) were also heavily involved with the researched and they worked alongside the six teachers. With reference to Schoà ¡Ã‚ ¹Ã¢â‚¬ ¦s model of reflective teaching (1983), the class teachers and the EPs intended to reflect on the teachers interactional methods that happened within the teaching. They also wanted to be able to work together to discover and extend classroom conversations. Therefore, through reflective and exploratory conversation with the EPs and with the help of recordings of interactive sessions that happened within the class, teachers watched back their lessons and were then able to explore and develop aspects of their interactional methods of teaching that they used with their class. At the end of the twelve weeks, the videos and recordings taken were compared. The main focus was to see the changes between the beginning sessions to the sessions at the end of the project. Brown K Kennedy H (2011) stated that from the teachers looking back at their lessons, and working alongside the EPs they were able to adapt a change in their lessons to promote talk. Changes included the teachers using conversation to build more on childrens ideas and actively support the cooperation between children. Changes in the nature of talk amongst children showed evidence of building more on ideas within conversations and making less new initiatives. The changes in conversations are considered with reference to childrens participation and learning. Brown K Kennedy H (2011) Given the importance of childrens metacognitive awareness of interactive processes within the class (Mercer, 2000), I feel that one of the main weaknesses of this article and its research was that it would have been useful to have a greater insight into the changes that occurred throughout the lessons, from the points of view of the children that were involved with the study involved. All the children who participated did so voluntarily, however, they were not included in the ongoing preparation, development, and evaluation. The children involved might have provided valuable insights into how the learning procedure seemed from their point of view, and how they felt that changes the teachers made worked for them, especially when the teachers developed their interactional styles. I would be interesting to see what extent the children felt the changes had on their incentive, contribution and learning. Overall, this research has shown that looking back and watching how you have interacted with the children and what interaction styles you use can have an impact on childrens learning. The article has also proven Schoà ¡Ã‚ ¹Ã¢â‚¬ ¦s model of reflective teaching (1983) to be effective, as the if the teachers hadnt looked back and reflected on their interactional styles, there wouldnt have been any progression in talk. I will now use different interactional styles during my lessons, and I also feel that it would be beneficial for me to record myself teaching and watch this back to help me improved on my own teaching skills.