The preaching of Augustine Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The preaching of Augustine - Research Proposal Example This paper will discuss some of the styles that Augustine used to deliver his message and why it was important for him to preach using the Bible. Augustine used Bible stories to pull a mass of people to listen to him. This is because he engaged the crowd through using examples that correlate well with their lives.2 In addition, he made connections with the congregation by using simple linguistic languages so that the message could be understood by all.3 This made him likable in that no one was discriminated against his style of preaching in that he built a sense of connection with them In addition, Augustine used theological themes such as grace, love and judgment to preach to the people.4 Through these themes in the Bible, he could use them to explain certain issues in the society. This contributed on the fact that he had many followers in that they began to learn about God. Augustine also preached regularly such that he interpreted almost every book in the Bible.5 This served him well in that the people understood why Augustine was religious in that the understood the compassionate love that God had for His people.6 This illustrates that Augustine was an important figure in not only the community but also the History of Christianity in that he helped the people understand the coherent significance of believing in God.7 In conclusion, it is clear that Augustine used the Bible explicitly to communicate to the people in the community. Through the Bible, Augustine emphasized on the importance of faith in God through sharing scriptural texts. In addition, he used simple language and biblical stories to reach to the congregation and the people as a whole. Augustine preached to the people by using theological themes such as judgment and Grace to assert the significance of believing in God. This shows that Augustine was an important figure in the History of Christianity

Success of most international organizations

Success of most international organizations INTRODUCTION International project teams has been argued to be a key factor in the success of most international organizations(Heimer, 1994). Many factors have been attributed to this and they include; Rich cultural diversity leading to different ideas been generated by the respective team members thus bringing together knowledge and skills from the different countries that make up the team. In this paper, we will attempt to define an international project team, the advantages and limitations of such a team, conflicts that may arise, and finally we will propose the main lessons derived from working in an international team using a case study. Definition: Makilouko(2003) suggested that for a team to be called an international project team, it must fulfil either of three main conditions which are; its members must have different backgrounds working in the same country, or its members may work in different countries but meet on a face-to-face basis, or its members may be based in many countries but coordinate their meetings through electronic media. Heimer(1998) proposed that the difference between an international project team and other teams is as a result of the cultural differences present in such a team. These cultural differences result in differences in the process of communication, leadership and the way the team members work together(Snow et al, 1996) Group 4 is an ideal multicultural team made up of four team members from four different countries i.e. Nigeria, Malaysia, China, and Thailand, who are managing presentation projects in the same country. CHOICE OF LEADERSHIP The role of a leader in an international project team involves managing not only the hard aspects of the project i.e. technical details, but also the soft aspects of the project i.e. the human resources aspects. The management of these two objectives interchanges throughout the project lifecycle(Snell et al,1993). In an international project team, no one individual may possess all the necessary attributes needed to lead the team, hence the concept of collective leadership has been proposed by Freidrich et al(2009). Collective leadership process means that each member of the team showcases their skills and expertise at different aspects of the project lifecycle. This concept was corroborated by Hanschild and Kirchmann(2001) who alluded to the benefits of collective leadership. The Group 4 team adopted the principle of collective leadership in the management of the assigned projects. One member of the team volunteered to be the administrator in charge of organizing team meetings while the other members led the team in project areas they where good at. A member of the team led in information technology aspects, another member led in presentation slide design, while a third member was in charge of proof-reading the final slides for errors. This process of collective leadership ensured the collective participation of all project team members in leading the team and reduced the friction involved in choosing a particular person as a group leader. TEAM PROCESS Iles and hayes(1997) suggested that unlike other teams, international project teams require greater team building processes as a result of the cultural diversity present. These difference in culture can lead to the success or failure of the project if not well managed. Dreachshin et al(2000) proposed that two major aspects of the team process that is affected by cultural diversity are communication and conflict management. Communication Maznevski(1994) report that effective communication is the key to ensuring that a culturally diverse team is well integrated. Iles and Hayers(1997) also suggested that for cohesion to occur in an international project team, the individuals who make up the team must develop strategies to communicate across their differences. Heimer and Vince(1998) also agreed with this notion by proposing that multi-cultural teams that ensure that non-native speakers of the teams language can contribute are more effective on the long term even though initially they may work slower. At the preparation stage of the different presentations, we where able to address the challenges of communication by developing a communication strategy with the contribution of all team members. The strategy addressed the questions of When, What, and How do we communicate?. The basis of the strategy involved the use of multiple modes of communication in order to ensure understanding from non-native speakers of English. In order to do this, we deployed the use of information technology e.g. regular emails that provide a summary of the minutes of the meetings, and also utilized language translation websites like Google Translate ® for language translations. We also ensured that during meetings, we generate feedback from non-native English speakers in order to confirm that the points discussed have been understood. Conflicts Bercovitch(1983) proposed that conflicts in multicultural teams tends to occur when 2 or more parties have personal objectives that are not compatible with each other hence leading to them behaving differently. This view alluded to that proposed by Thomas(1976) which suggests that conflicts are inherent in every team process. Thomas(1976) also proposed that conflicts within teams are inherently bad and should be avoided at all costs. Jehn(1994) disagreed with Thomas(1976) negative perception of conflicts and proposed that conflicts that occur as a result of cultural differences in the way a task should be managed actually do lead to an improvement in team performance. The main reason why conflicts tend to occur in international project teams has been proposedto be as a result of mistrust and miscommunication among the team members(Trandis et al, 1965) In Group 4, the process of decision making was a participatory style in which every project team member is given equal time slots during meetings to make his/her proposal to the project plan. This style helped to address conflict that may arise from depending on a single or few dominant team members. The disadvantage of having the participatory style is because it gave rise to another conflict in choosing the particular members opinion that should be adopted by the Group. The way this was managed is by adopting a collaborative conflict management style as proposed by Thomas(1976). The aim of using this technique is to be able to merge aspects of all the different opinions and perspectives of the different team members into a single project plan. STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF GROUP 4 The key strength of the Group 4 team rests on the cultural diversity of its members. This diversity led to a large amount of different ideas been generated on how different tasks should be managed, the varied nature of the ideas occurred as a result of the unique cultural experiences of the individual members of the team and it provided a rich pool of information to source from. Another key strength of the team is the collective leadership style adopted which ensured participation of all team members and removed the destructive tendency of having a single leader dominating other members of the team. Finally, a third strong point was our adoption of the multimedia approach to delivering presentations as compared to the traditional slideshows. Our main objective for using this strategy was to promote understanding of the message and also to entertain the audience. The key weakness or bad points of Group 4 was exhibited during the last two projects whereby team members showed signs of complacency as a result of previous successes recorded. The efforts put into research was lower than the initial couple of presentations but rather, a lot of subjectiveness was used in developing the final projects. The reasons proposed for this included ongoing assignments from other modules, as well as family and job constraints. NEXT TIME In the event of my participation as a team member of a multicultural team, I would suggest that rather than sending emails of the proposed project plan back and forth among team members, we should have an Online repository/Store in which team members can log in independently and have access to/modify the project plan. In adopting this system, what we are trying to achieve is to have a rudimentary project plan which is continuously been updated by team members irrespective of their current location or language differences LESSONS LEARNED Tuckman(1965) proposed that groups typically go through a series of changes in development which he termed Form, Storm, Norm, Perform. My participation in this international project team enabled me to actually visualize and appreciate this stages taking place. The Hofstede(1980) study highlighted that cultural differences among project team members is a major factor which if not managed properly can lead to the success or failure of international projects. He proposed that conflicts that arise among international teams should be investigated from within the cultural context. The lesson learned in this case is that we are all culturally different and this differences leads to different perceptions about the way issues are managed. The effective use of multimedia during project proposal presentations help to promote understanding. This is achieved because it appeals not only to the brain of the audience but also to the emotions. Hence, an ideal project presentation will be one that effectively challenges the audiences to see, feel, hear, smell, and touch what the presenter is talking about. This is a strategy I intend to adopt in future presentations.

An Analysis of Jack Londons To Build a Fire :: London To Build a Fire Essays

An Analysis of Jack London's To Build a Fire In his article "To Build a Fire" a Physical Fiction and Metaphysical Critics Charles E. May comments and disagrees with a statement that "To Build a Fire" is "a masterpiece of a short fiction"(20). Literary critics claimed that London used many metaphors in this work such as "sun-fire-life" or "cold-darkness-depression-death"(20), but May argues that this story should be read and interpreted literally and does not contain deep, dual or metaphorical meaning. He says: "For Jack London, and consequently for the reader, the man in the story is simply a living body, the cold is simply a physical fact"(22). What is more article's author strongly disagrees with the critic, who compares the theme of the story to a theme of a classical tragedy. May sarcastically states that the only visible similarity in terms of theme would be the issue of protagonist's death(22). I think that "To Build a Fire" story relates to many issues hidden behind a superficial plot. The story takes place in a very severe winter; the man under appreciates the dangers of nature forces and struggles to return to camp. He is warned about possible dangers, but he is also too pride and too self-confident to take the advice into consideration. The protagonist is accompanied by a dog. The man tries to survive, but forces of nature are stronger and he dies. The interpretation of the story, however, reveals real "treasures": problem of loneliness, deadly fear, acceptance, understanding, issue of time, and a scary silence. The protagonist seems to be a very independent and strong person, he rather listens to himself first. He planned his way back home, and regardless to weather condition he realizes his plans and sets off. During this trip he starts to realize that it may be too cold, initially tries to set up a fire, but it is not enough to survive. He is scared, and has a feeling of a coming death. In some ways he is similar to a contemporary person, who never has enough time for anything. The protagonist rushes to get home, to realize his own plans, to go forward, then on a deserted land he suddenly finds time, too much time to think, and to feel. It was a very uncomfortable feeling to be aware of his own death; he is able to predict what will happen. At first, he tries to escape and safely find camp, but afterwards he learns it is impossible, and accepts his fate.

High School and School Football Team Essay

Why someone wants to drop outof high school. Either or their family don’t have money so they have to work. There are many different reasons why students drop out of high school. As long as I know and from my experience those three are most import reasons why students drop out of high school. Dropping out of high school, sounds cool isn’t it? No but I had few friends who were in my of college? As from my experience with few of my friends who drop out of high school are those who has skills in sport or they think they don’t need to study in order to get to their goals. Most likely they are inspired from a star that has not even completed high school and he or she is big star now in a sport or even music. I am not saying that every student drop out of high school because of this reason. Few students drop out because they have bad grades from a star who is not even a high school graduate and today he is a star. Second one child doesn’t have any interest in education but that child is forced to attend high school. And last but not least some students who want to study but in some consequences they don’t have any other choice then drop out high school football team and two of my friends thought dropping out of high school is cool and fun they thought they are best football player so they will find something to do after dropping out of high school. Now days they don’t have job neither of them is in any football team either. Few days ago one of them tried to commit suicide. That’s the result of or they are  Page – 2  treated bad ways by a teacher or an administrator. Some student who don’t study or they don’t have any interest in education but they are forced by  their parents to go to high school they are the second one who will most likely drop out of high school. Therefore they will end up with out job, no money or may be no place to live in.

Multigrade Teaching Strategies Essay

Every student has their own aspirations on life and that is the reason why some students are working by virtue of aiming their own aspirations. Students of SSCT also have their own aspirations. Some of them are lucky that they belong to the economic-stable families where their family can support them in all aspects that they need compare to the students who work while studying. Academic performance of the students depends on the factors that affect it. These include various aspects that they need to adjust in order to attain their goals in life. Full time students have their advantages when it comes to their performance in school because they only focus on their own works especially in school activities. They are most capable in joining some activities pertaining to improve their various skills that lead them to excel their performance academically. Full time students do not worry on the things that they do and they will do because their time are not divided when it comes to household chores and school activities. They are lucky not because they are not working to sustain their school needs but because they are used to only focus on their aims that they set in life and how to attain it. They are also free on the things they want to. They can easily cope with school problems that need a lot of efforts to adjust on the situation. When it comes to financial aspects they easily pay for it without any doubt to tell to their parents and ask for it. Full time students are really blessed as they only focus on the right track that leads them to the road of success. On the other hand, working while studying is a burden among working students. They have to give up and set aside their social needs. Working students give their time in working and studying their lessons in school. Most of them have lack of sleep but still need to work and go to school. Due to school works, working students do not have time for themselves even on their personal needs. Most of them do not care on how they look as long as they enter school and listen to the discussion of the teacher. Because of their eagerness to finish their studies, they forget to care about their health. They almost forgot to spend their social life with friends, to live life, to experience their youth and do things that a normal person does. With their eagerness to succeed in life, they let the years go by without even thinking the present. Thus, full time and working students are both have the eagerness to a success but differ into various aspects on traveling the road of success for they have their own advantages and disadvantages to carry on to their road of success. Review of Literature Today, students can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude (Jackson, 2006). Socio-Economic Factor Education provides individual children with the knowledge and skills necessary to advance themselves and their nation economically. Socioeconomic factors, such as family income level, parents’ level of education, race and gender, all influence the quality and availability of education as well as the ability of education to improve life circumstances (Jennifer, 2007). Danesy (2006), complimenting environmental and socio-economic factors to produce high academic achievements and performance include good teaching, counseling, good administration, good seating arrangement and good building. High level of illiteracy, poverty and low socio-economic status coupled with high rate of paternal and maternal deprivation of student academic needs, which was necessitated by poor socio-economic situation of the country has thrown many farmers and old rural dwellers into untold financial problems such as poverty, lack of money to purchase necessary textbooks and working materials for their kids. Also many rural and suburban dwellers can no longer pay the school fees of their wards. These ugly situations have promoted young school students to drop out of school to engage in subsistence farming and become housemaids or engage in other menial jobs to support their academic pursuit. Hence, many students have since taken schooling as a secondary assignment and school attendance on rotational basis. Socio-economic factors like attendance in the class, family income, and mother’s and father’s education, teacher-student ratio, presence of trained teacher in school, sex of student and distance of school are also affected the performance of the students (Raychauduri, 2010). Physical Factor Regardless of the reason for working, trying to meet the multiple and sometimes conflicting simultaneous demands of the roles of student, employee, parent, and so on often creates high levels of stress and anxiety, making it less likely that students will complete their degrees (Kasworm 2010). There is a possibility a working student will have trouble finding time to study. If you have a job, you automatically have less time to do everything you want to (Corbett 2009). Mental Ability A typical response from faculty members and administrators who are asked how much undergraduate students should work at paying jobs while attending college. Available research supports this recommendation. Quantitative studies consistently show that retention rates are higher for students who work a modest number of hours per week (ten to fifteen) than they are for students who do not work at all or those who work more than fifteen hours per week. Research also shows increased academic success for students working on rather than off campus. Umbach (2005), associate professor of higher education at North Carolina State University, and his co-authors demonstrate the educational benefits to working students when their instructors encourage cooperative learning, set high expectations for student achievement, and create assignments that require students to demonstrate deep learning. A campus teaching center may also support faculty efforts to help working students. Family Factor Guidance is of the factor through which a student can improve his study attitudes and study habits and is directly proportional to academic achievement. The students who are properly guided by their parents have performed well in the exams. The guidance from the teacher also affects the student performance. The guidance from the parents and the teachers indirectly affect the performance of the students (Hussain, 2006). Students academic accomplishments and activities, perceptions of their coping strategies and positive attributions, and background characteristics (i. . , family income, parents level of education, guidance from parents and number of negative situations in the home) were indirectly related to their composite scores, through academic achievement (Noble 2008). Environmental Factor There are so many factors that can contribute to your academic performance. Noise, distractions, etc. can affect you in studying. Light, review materials, and others should be conducive to lear ning. However, there are some cases that students choose to have a bit of distractions. For instance, a student might want to listen to music while studying. Others might want to watch TV while doing this. It’s actually a case-to-case basis (Debate Society, biology professor, etc. 2008). The academic environment is the effective variable for students and has positive relationship with fathers education and grade level (Kirmani & Siddiquah, 2008). The student has to have an advantageous atmosphere to learn, not one which is disadvantageous to learning. If the student feels the need to participate, rather than being forced to and possibly be humiliated as a result, the student is apt to learn that much more (Bea 2009). How do you expect a student to perform great if they are sitting in a dimly lit room where they can’t hardly see what the professor is writing on the whiteboard, in room located next to an extremely busy train station or to have only a chair (to sit on) making it difficult to take notes or even open a book (Linda, 2010). Young, 2010), held the view that student performances are linked with use of library and level of their parental education. The use of the library positively affected the student performance. The students who are actively engage in the learning process are observed to have a positive correlation with the CGP. A Study effort from student and the proper use of the facilities provided by the institution to the student, a good match between learning style of the students and are positively affect t he performance of the students (Ali, 2009). Karemera, 2005) found that performance of the students is significantly correlated with satisfaction with academic environment and the facilities of library, computer lab and etc. in the institution. With regard to background variables, he found a positive effect of high school performance and school achievement he found no statistical evidence of significant association between family income level and academic performance of the student. Synthesis.  The above mentioned reviews are related to the present study in the same that it accounts for the similarities of findings specifically on the factors affecting the academic performance of the 2nd year and 3rd year BEED students in SSCT. Conceptual Framework The factors that affect to the academic performance of the 2nd year and 3rd year BEED students are complex and numerous. Hence, the researchers only need those that are commonly encountered by the students. This study is anchored in some related concepts for its framework. It includes the respondent’s profile in terms of age, sex, student status, religious affiliation and occupation of parents and the factors affecting the academic performance of the 2nd year and 3rd year BEED students that will be basic to come up with a quality research output. Each individual has its potential and capability to conduct a certain research study. However, these are some factors or aspects that would affect in doing this kind of work. It must be considered by the researchers in order to have a better result.