Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary

There has been a long debate about the Constitutionality of paid military chaplains. Is there a legal basis for such or is it a mere supposition? Does the government have a legitimate and legal basis to pay chaplains for their services or is it doing so â€Å"just because† and is getting away with it? Could it be legally challenged and done away with? These are the questions. The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution is the legal basis of the military chaplaincy. Here is how.The First Amendment states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. The amendment is generally viewed as being composed of two separate clauses; the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause. Each of these clauses is designed to protect those fundamental human rights which are so foundational to the ideals of our nation: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.There are many references to the military chaplaincies as legitimate exceptions to the â€Å"Establishment Clause† because they provide the right of â€Å"free exercise† of religion that is equally guaranteed under the First Amendment. It is this most important point that the chaplaincy clearly provides the military with a constitutional function, the â€Å"free exercise† of religion. The legal debate over paid chaplains sits on both clauses of the First Amendment: 1) Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, 2) or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;Describe your understanding of praying in â€Å"Jesus Name. I have been fortunate in that I have not experienced any direct pressure in regards to praying in Jesus’ name. However, during public prayer in which soldiers are required to be in attendance, I always make the statement â€Å"As I pray in my tradition, I encourage you to prayer in yours. † This should be a common statement among chaplains. `Generally speaking, it is not soldiers of other faith traditions that are offended by prayers in Jesus’name, it is usually soldiers of no faith tradition whatsoever.Furthermore, although there are stories of religious persecution on both sides of the issue (Religious soldiers and Non- Religious soldiers), these issues have a tendency to be very allocated and reflect the particular command environment that the Chaplain is serving under. This is a very troubling issue and the best resolve is the development of a healthy relationship between the Chaplain and the Command in which the chaplain has the opportunity to advise the commander on these complicated issues. In reality, this can become quite complicated and some commanders have strong views on this topic (on both sides of the argument).Is it worth derailing many years of representing Christ to soldiers over the particular views of one commander? I would suggest that sometimes it is prudent to just get in the basket and go over the wall. Finally, I also understand that Chaplains and Chaplain Candidates like myself, that pray Christian prayers should be prepared to hear and support the right of Jewish and Muslim Chaplains to pray in their particular tradition as well. Finally, describe your understanding of the â€Å"Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell† Policy and other issues of which you may be concerned.According to the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal, service members will not be involuntarily separated for lawful homosexual conduct. Sexual orientation remains a personal and private matter. Sexual orientation and lawful homosexual conduct (statements, acts or same-sex marriage) are not a basis for separation, reassignment or special consideration. Sailors may inform others of their sexual orientation at their own discretion. In fact, the Department of Defense will not ask service members to identify their sexual orientation.The Department of Defense will not collect or maintain data on an individual’s sexual orientation. This Department of Defense policy on sexual orientation applies equally to all members of the Active, Reserve, and National Guard components of the military. With that being said, what does this mean in relationship to providing worship and counseling services to men and women who can now be open with their lifestyle. Chaplains will continue to have the very same freedom to practice their religion according to the tenets of their faith.In the context of their religious ministry, chaplains are not required to take actions that are inconsistent with their religious beliefs (e. g. , altering the content of sermons or religious counseling, sharing a pulpit with other chaplains or modifying forms of prayer or worship). However, when it comes to ministering to someone who is a homosexual , I feel that it is the pastor’s or chaplain’s duty to do so. The Title â€Å"pastor† suggests two functions of church leaders so designated: nurturing and guidance.The nurturing aspect includes the general Christian responsibility of showing compassion for others, but his responsibility is accentuated because a pastor must set the example. Pastors or Chaplains must indeed set the example. Homosexual or not, that person who seeks counsel is still one of God’s children only in a fallen state. Then again, aren’t we all? We are all still a work in progress. There isn’t a human being on this Earth that has defeated sin or struggle with sin. So I think some compassion is warranted when it comes to ministering to homosexuals.

Air Asia Strategic Report Essay

Introduction Definition A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline is an airline that generally has lower fares and fewer comforts. To make up for revenue lost in decreased ticket prices, the airline may charge for extras like food, priority boarding, seat allocating, and baggage etc. The term originated within the airline industry referring to airlines with a lower operating cost structure than their competitors. While the term is often applied to any carrier with low ticket prices and limited services, regardless of their operating models, low-cost carriers should not be confused with regional airlines that operate short flights without service, or with full-service airlines offering some reduced fares. In due course, some airlines have actively sought to market and advertise themselves as low-cost, budget, or discount airlines while maintaining products usually associated with traditional mainline carrier’s services which often result in increased operational complexity. Among these products which tend to increase complexity to reduce efficiency are preferred or assigned seating, catering other items rather than basic beverages, differentiated premium cabins, satellite or ground based wi-fi internet, and in-flight audio video entertainment. As such by advertising themselves as low-cost, this branch and category of airlines seek to gain a competitive marketing advantage over other similarly priced air transportation carrier’s products; even though in actuality fare prices for the passenger may be parallel to that of other airlines. History While tour and package operators have been offering lower-priced, lower frilled traveling for a large part of modern airline history, not until during the post Vietnam War era did this business model really escalate and take off. Through various ticket consolidators, charter airlines and innovators in low frills airline business such as Channel Airways and Court Line, the traveling public had been conditioned to want to travel to new and increasingly further away and exotic locations on vacation, rather than short-haul trips to nearby beach resorts or resorts. The first low-cost airline was Southwest Airlines which started flying in 1971.[8] The first airline offering no-frills transatlantic service was Freddie Laker’s Laker Airways, which operated its famous â€Å"Skytrain† service between London and New York City during the late 1970s. The service was suspended after Laker’s competitors, British Airways and Pan Am, were able to price Skytrain out of the market. In the United States, airline carriers such as America West Airlines which commenced operations after 1978, soon realized a cost of available seat mile advantage in relation to the traditional and established, legacy airlines such as Trans World Airlines and American Airlines. Often this CASM advantage has been attributed, solely to the lower labor costs of the newly hired and lower pay grade workers of new start up carriers, such as People Express Airlines, ValuJet, Midway Airlines, and their like. However, these lower costs, can also be attributed to the less complex aircraft fleets, and less complex route networks these new carriers began operations with, as well as the vastly less costly and freshly trained labor force. To combat the new round of low cost and start up entrants into the very competitive and deregulated United States airline industry, the mainline major carriers and network legacy carriers strategically developed no frills divisions within the main airlines brand and corporate structures. Among these were Metro Jet and Continental Lite. These so-called airlines within an airline however, proved to be very short lived, for the most part and a financial burden which were quickly disposed off when economic rationalization or competitive pressures subsided. Story of Air Asia Air Asia, as the second Malaysian National Airline, provides a totally different type of service in line with the nation’s aspirations to benefit all citizens and worldwide travellers. Such service takes the form of a no frills – low airfares flight offering, 40%-60% lower than what is currently offered in this part of Asia. Their vision is â€Å"Now Everyone Can Fly† and their mission is to provide ‘Affordable Airfares’ without any compromise to Flight Safety Standards. Air Asia is Asia’s largest low-fare, no-frills airline and a pioneer of low-cost travel in Asia. Air Asia group operates scheduled domestic and international flights to over 400 destinations spanning 25 countries. Its main hub is the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Its affiliate airlines Thai Air Asia, Indonesia Air Asia, Air Asia Philippines and Air Asia Japan have hubs in Suvarnabhumi Airport, Soekarno–Hatta International Airport, Clark International Airport and Narita International Airport respectively. AirAsia’s registered office is in Petaling Jaya, Selangor while its head office is at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Air Asia was established in 1993 and began operations on 18 November 1996. It was originally founded by a government-owned conglomerate, DRB-Hicom. On 2 December 2001 the heavily-indebted airline was bought by former Time Warner executive Tony Fernandes’s company Tune Air Sdn Bhd for the token sum of one ringgit (about USD 0.26 at the time) with USD 11 million (MYR 40 million) worth of debts. Fernandes turned the company around, producing a profit in 2002 and launching new routes from its hub in Kuala Lumpur, undercutting former monopoly operator Malaysia Airlines with promotional fares as low as MYR 1 (USD 0.27). AirAsia operates with the world’s lowest unit cost of USD 0.023/ASK and a passenger break-even load factor of 52%. It has hedged 100% of its fuel requirements for the next three years, achieves an aircraft turnaround time of 25 minutes, has a crew productivity level that is triple that of Malaysia Airlines, and achieves an average aircraft utilization rate of 13 hours a day.[10] All scheduled Air Asia departures from Kuala Lumpur use the Low cost carrier terminal. AirAsia had abolished its fuel surcharges on November 2008, but, due to rising oil prices, the fuel surcharge was re-introduced in May 2011. Tony Fernandes Fernandes was born on 30th April 1964 into a family that had no prior knowledge or experience of business; his father was a physician from Goa (India) and his mother was a music teacher of Malaccan-Portuguese descent. In other words, Fernandes came from an Indian-Malaysian family of professionals; the new middle class that emerged in Malaysia from the 1960s. Like many other middle class families, the Fernandes had sufficient wealth to send Fernandes to study in England. Fernandes, at the age of 12, went to London in 1976 to study at Epsom College and attended the London School of Economics in which he graduated in 1987 with a degree in accounting. In total, he spent some 11 years in London, a painful separation from his parents who could not afford to pay for his flights back to Malaysia. It was this experience, according to Brown that gave him an insight into the benefits of perhaps developing cheap international carriers. However, at this stage his career path did not take him into the airline business. Upon graduation from the London School of Economics Fernandes took the normal route of working in accounting jobs. Fernandes worked briefly at Virgin Communications, a television division of the Virgin Group of companies. What did Fernandes learn from Virgin? The main benefit was the experience of working in a global company, acquiring insights into the running of an international business, and developing an impressive resume which worked in his favour in being appointed to the position of Senior Financial Analyst at Warner Music International. in London. At Warner, Fernandes showed strong business acumen. He started in 1989 as Senior Financial Analyst, and by 2001, when he resigned from Warner, he was the Vice President, ASEAN region. Within 12 years at Warner he was promoted four times that is on average he was promoted every three years. Fernandes’ time at Warner Music was significant because it was during this period that Fernandes matured and transformed himself from being a mere accountant into a strategist with an analytical mind. Fernandes’ ability to think strategically, and understand his environment from a macro perspective, was the reason why Fernandes felt compelled not to be part of Warner’s ill-fated merger with America Online Inc. in 2001. This incident was said to be the catalyst for Fernandes’ decision to switch careers after 12 years with Warner and begin his journey with Air Asia. It was through Datuk Pahamin A. Rejab, the former secretary-general of the Malaysian Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry that Fernandes came to meet with then Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in October 2001. Instead of starting from scratch, Mahathir advised Fernandes to buy an existing airline instead. Air Asia, the heavily-indebted subsidiary of the Malaysian government-owned conglomerate, DRB-Hicom, was quickly losing money. Fernandes mortgaged his home and used his personal savings to acquire the company, comprising two ageing Boeing 737-300 jets and US$11 million (RM40 million) worth of debts, for one ringgit (about 26 US cents), and transformed it into an industry player. Coming just after the September 11 attacks of 2001, everyone thought that Fernandes had gone â€Å"crazy†, predicting that the company would fail miserably. Yet, just one year after his takeover, Air Asia had broken even and cleared all its debts. Its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2004 was oversubscribed by 130 per cent. Fernandes says his timing was in fact perfect after 11 September 2001, aircraft leasing costs fell 40%. Also, airline lay-offs meant experienced staffs were readily available. He believed Malaysian travelers would embrace a cut-rate air service that would save them time and money, especially in a tight economy. That was why he copied one of the world’s most successful no-frills carriers, Ireland’s Ryanair (which is in turn modeled after Southwest Airlines in the United States). Fernandes estimates about 50 per cent of the travellers on Asia’s budget airlines are first-time flyers. Before AirAsia, he estimated that only six per cent of Malaysians had ever travelled in a plane. Strategies Adopted to Compete with Rivals 1. Single Class No Frills Service As with most low-cost airlines, Air Asia operated a single class-service, without frills and at substantially lower prices: passengers are not allocated seats, do not receive meals, entertainment, amenities (i.e. pillows or blanks), loyalty program points, or access to airport lounges. Air Asia’s aircraft are designed to minimize wear and tear, cleaning time and cost. This reduced cleaning and maintenance expenses, loading and unloading times and costs, and allowed quicker turnarounds between flights, improving process efficiencies and resulted in lower costs all around. 2. High Aircraft Utilization & Efficient Operations Compared with other airlines, Air Asia’s usage of its aircraft and staff is more efficient. Such (high) efficiency and utilization means that the overhead and fixed costs associated with an aircraft are lower on a per flight basis. For example, seating configurations to Air Asia’s Boeing 737-300 aircraft were maximized, having 16 more seats than the standard configuration adopted by full-service competitors. In addition, Air Asia’s aircraft (i.e. point-to-point services kept flights to no more than 4 hours, minimizing turnaround time), and employees (i.e. encouraged to perform multiple roles), were used more effectively and intensively than competitors. Its point-to-point services enabled Air Asia to operate its aircraft an average of approximately 13 hours/day. It was 2.5 hours more efficient then full-services airlines, which only managed to use their aircraft for an average 10.5 hours/day. Furthermore, the average turnaround time for Air Asia’s aircraft is lesser (e.g. 25 minutes), as compared to full-service airlines (e.g. 45-120 minutes). 3. Single Aircraft Type Operating a single aircraft type enabled Air Asia to have substantial cost savings: maintenance was simplified and cheaper, the spare parts inventory was minimized, infrastructure and equipment needs were reduced, staff and training needs were lowered (i.e. easy for pilot dispatch), and better purchase terms could be negotiated. For instance, its large purchase of A-320s would make Air Asia one of the relatively few low cost airlines operating this aircraft. With fuel accounting for almost 50% of the total operating costs for the airline, the A-320s would provide an important cost saving of lower fuel usage by about 12%; increasing the airline’s profitability. 4. Low Fixed Cost Air Asia achieved low fixed costs through successful negotiations for low lease rates for its aircraft, low rates for its long-term maintenance contracts, and low airport fees. This enabled Air Asia to reduce its overheads and investments in equipments substantially in the absence of fringe services. As a result of its successful negotiations, Air Asia’s contractual lease charges per aircraft decreased by more than 60% over the years. Aircraft maintenance contract costs were also reported to be substantially lower than other airlines, giving Air Asia a competitive advantage, which was further compounded by its young fleet. Furthermore, the airline’s high safety and maintenance standards allowed Air Asia to procure rates that were favorable on its insurance policies. 5. Low Distribution Costs By utilizing information technology (i.e. being the first airline in Southeast Asia to utilize e-ticketing, bypassing traditional travel agents), Air Asia achieved low distribution costs by eliminating the need for large and expensive booking/reservation systems, and agents’ commissions. This saved the airline the cost of issuing physical ticket (i.e. estimated at US$10 per ticket). 6. Minimizing Personnel Expenses As a high portion of costs was the salaries and benefits for its employees, Air Asia implemented flexible work rules, streamlining administrative functions, which allowed employees to perform multiple roles within a simple and flat organizational structure. Having employees perform multiple roles enabled Air Asia to deploy fewer employees per aircraft (i.e. ratio of 106 per aircraft versus 110 employees or more for competitors), saving on overhead costs and maximizing employees’ productivity, as process efficiencies are improved. Air Asia’s employees were not unionized, hence its rumination policy focused on maximizing efficiency and productivity, whilst keeping staff costs at levels consistent with low-cost carrier industry standards. Although salaries offered to employees were below that of rivals, all employees were offered a wide range of incentives (i.e. productivity and performance-based bonuses, share offers, and stock options). In addition, rather than an hourly pay scale for its pilots, Air Asia adopted a sector pay policy: pilots were provided incentives to enhance flight operation efficacies by keeping flight and operating times to a minimum, and to cover as many flight sectors as possible within a day. The absence of in-flight services made it possible for the airline to reduce the number of cabin crew per light, saving on employee cost. 7. Maximizing Media Coverage Being a leader among budget airlines in Southeast Asia, Air Asia received regular coverage from media outlets. Air Asia managed to promote brand awareness without incurring high sales and marketing expenses. In all of his media appearances, Air Asia Group CEO Tony Fernandes always appeared wearing a red Air Asia baseball cap and his statements reinforcing Air Asia’s positioning to offer low prices generating media attention for the airline. However, Air Asia also invested heavily where required Air Asia’s major sponsorship for Manchester United, involved global sponsorship and advertising, and promoted the brand beyond its traditional regions. This exposed to the airline to eyeballs around the world. The sponsorship generated awareness for the airline amongst foreign travelers. This is especially important as a lot of tourists frequent south east Asia at different parts of the year whether it be for business or pleasure. 8. Use of Secondary Airports Air Asia, as with most low-cost airlines, usually operated out of secondary airports which allowed Air Asia to charge lower fares, as operation costs were lower. Landing, parking, and ground handling fees were lower, with more slots for landings and takeoffs. 9. Low fare of Indonesia-Malaysia trip The fare for a Jakarta-Johor Baru trip costs Rp 100,000 whereas the fare is Rp 150,000 for a Bandung-Kuala Lumpur flight, and Rp 300,000 for a Surabaya-Kuala Lumpur trip. But this is nothing when compared to the airfare of a Jakarta-Kuala Lumpur air ticket from Malaysia Airlines available at travel agents for as much as Rp 1.4 million. Meanwhile, Lion Air on the same route, charged Rp 1.05 million. The low fare provided by Air Asia helps it open the Indonesia market. Due to this huge difference in the priced we can see how Air Asia has opened and monopolised the Indonesian market for itself. 10. Low fare of Singapore-Bangkok service Air Asia will increase its services between Singapore & Bangkok by introducing a 2nd daily flight to its existing schedule. This recent development came barely a month after Thai Air Asia operations started its first international flight to Singapore in early February this year. Air Asia is offering its guests promotional fares to/from Singapore- Bangkok from SGD$23.99 (Rs.1055). It is much lower than the lowest fare SGD$56 (Rs.2461) offered by full-service carrier. This difference is crucial for Air Asia as Singapore is the Asia Pacific headquarters for many multinational corporations and therefore business travel would be inevitable. 11. Political connections Air Asia holds 49% of Thai Air Asia with 1% being held by a Thai individual. The remaining 50% is held by Shin Corp. which is owned by the family of Thailand’s Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. Shin Corp. with its dominance of the Thai information and technology sector supports Air Asia’s Internet and mobile phone bookings facilities. Shin Corp. allows subscribers of the Shin mobile phone flagship, Advanced Information Service, to reserve tickets through its short-messaging service (SMS). This is a huge competitive boost to the airline in this part of the world. Not only does Shin Corp have the financial muscle to aid Air Asia if need be but also help them from a strategic point of view. Overall it’s a win win situation for Air Asia. This allows Air Asia to dominate the Thai market. 12. Malaysian government support The Malaysian government supported the establishment of Air Asia in 2001 to help boost the under-used Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Air Asia’s flights from Senai are meant to develop Johor into a transport hub to rival Singapore. Air Asia, therefore, can provide an alternative route to travel to Bangkok, by using Senai Airport in Johor Bahru, in southern Malaysia. Although this is strategically advantageous to the Malaysian government in terms of revenue generated from the use of the airport, Air Asia stands to benefit as well due to its dominance of the low cost market. Visitors coming from the west may one day prefer Kuala Lumpur to Singapore as a transit hub. The opportunity is huge as the ultimate destination i.e. Bangkok attracts tourists and business travelers all year round. 13. Political Connections Thai AirAsia is a join venture established by AirAsia with Shin Corp. Shin Corp. is owned by the family of Thailand’s Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, and about 900 million baht will be invested in Thai Air Asia over a five-year period. Shin Corp. oversees the finance and administration of Thai Air Asia while Air Asia shoulders the responsibility for marketing and operations. Shin Corp. has financial strength and supports AirAsia to grow. 14. Low cost Philosophy To reinforce its low-cost structure, Air Asia instilled a low-cost culture, emphasizing on cost avoidance. For example, emphasis was placed on the elimination of avoidable expanses such as tag costing (despite reach tag costing less than US$0.05), turning off cabin lights at appropriate times, and not overheating in-flight ovens. Such cost saving measures enabled Air Asia to achieve costs per average seat kilometer of US$0.0213 (the lowest for any airline in the world), with its margins of 38% (before taxes, interests, depreciation, and amortization) being the highest in the world in 2004. Therefore, in conclusion, by eliminating the provision of costly in-flight services, flying a standard fleet, selling tickets to passengers, and minimizing labour, facilities and overhead costs, Air Asia has managed to achieve a successful low-cost structure, which enables it to charge lower prices to achieve high passenger loads, market share, and profitability. Overcoming Challenges to Survive 1. Indonesian Habit Preferences of Indonesian passengers are quite different from the concept of cheap air travel without extra service for the passengers (free snacks and drinks), and also their reluctance to bring light baggage. Air Asia prefers passengers with very light and minimum baggage. If this is the case, it may not before long face difficulties. Indonesian domestic airline companies are able to provide value-added extras like food and beverages as part of their service to the passengers, although at a relatively higher cost. Air Asia will have to overcome this challenge if it wishes to maintain its position in the Indonesian market. Air Asia must be flexible with its strategy and possibly tailor it to the needs of the concerned market in order to gain an advantage. 2. Singapore government rejection Initially, AirAsia wanted to start flights from the southern state of Johor, near Singapore. It was hoping to attract passengers by running a convenient bus service to the city-state. However, Singapore quickly quashed that idea. The Singapore government said it would not approve a bus link for Air Asia because it was not ‘in her national interest’, reflecting fears that Singapore’s Changi airport would lose business to Johor’s new Senai airport. This means Air Asia cannot abandon the use of Changi airport, and therefore has to incur a higher cost. This is because Air Asia suffers due to delays faced at Changi airport. AirAsia finds it stuck between big planes, circling to wait for a slot to open up, which means extra fuel costs. Moreover, the SGD$21 (Rs.923) departure and security tax of Changi is too high for Air Asia’s low-cost operation. Air Asia had asked the Singapore government to waive the fees, however, a request that was not only rejected but also criticized. Besides Singapore – Bangkok, Air Asia now provides an alternative route to travel to Bangkok, by using Senai Airport in Johor Bahru, in southern Malaysia. Seeking to cater to the different markets, fares for Johor Bahru- Bangkok are generally 20 % lower in comparison to Singapore – Bangkok. AirAsia currently operate daily flights to Bangkok from Johor Bahru. However, the choice proved unpopular, as the route failed to attract Singaporeans because of the additional cost and inconvenience of having to travel in and out of Malaysia by road. All these affect Air Asia external growth. If it is to flourish in this lucrative part of the world Air Asia has to face the competition and adapt to the ground realities of the South East Asian countries. 3. Minimum air-fare rates Air Asia faces challenges finding open takeoff and landing slots at opportune times, and Thailand’s regulation that sets minimum air-fare rates. Although Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungreangkit said the current minimum air-fare regulations will be scrapped to open up the market, he couldn’t name a date when this will be done. This seems to be favoritism toward Thai Airways International’s domestic operations, and affects Thai Air Asia to compete in the Thailand market. 4. Asia’s middle class growth Low cost airlines are anticipated to have greater potential in Asia as there are many Asian cities with a population above one million people each as well as a rising middle class population. This growth of middle class in Asia provides a huge market potential for Air Asia to grow. However, as the market is becoming larger, more airlines or new comers would like to get a piece of the action. For example, budget airlines, it is estimated, will capture at least 25% of Asia’s air travel market within next 10 years and a lot of that will be new, not diverted, traffic. Therefore, AirAsia will face more competitions at the same time. Besides the low cost airlines, Air Asia still needs to compete with the conventional carriers. Although extra passengers of the low cost airlines will be coming from the new demand to be created by the low fares, the growth may not be entirely ‘stolen’ from big flag carriers. 5. Actions of Changi International Airport(Singapore) and others The growth of low cost airlines in south-east Asia has a significant effect on which airports will dominate the regional aviation market. Low cost airlines are seen as helping funnel more passengers to airport hubs. Therefore, there is a realization among regional governments that they need smashing airports and feisty carriers or they are going to miss out big time. Therefore, these governments are more willing to support low cost airlines. For example, the Malaysian government supported the establishment of Air Asia in 2001 to help boost the under-used Kuala Lumpur International Airport, and Thai premier’s Shin Corp. forms a join venture with AirAsia that would benefit Bangkok’s new airport and create a new hub at Chiang Mai. Therefore, under this situation, it helps AirAsia grow in Asia. Moreover, as there is a growth of several south-east Asian airports, this poses a challenge to the status of Singapore’s Changi airport as a regional aviation hub. These airports include Johor’s new Senai airport in southern Malaysia and Bangkok’s new Suvarnabhumi airport. To maintain Changi’s position as the air hub in the region, Singapore is proposing a budget airline terminal at Changi and lower passenger taxes to attract low cost airlines. This helps AirAsia grow and lower the cost. 6. Actions of existing airlines The existing airlines in south-east Asia have several actions to compete with AirAsia, for example, some have launched a low cost airline to fight with Air Asia. Singapore Airlines launched a low cost airline subsidiary, Tiger Airways, in the second half of 2003, only months after the scheduled launch of ValuAir set up by one of its former executives. Orient Thai Airlines launched a new low cost airline subsidiary, One-To-Go. One-To-Go operates with a fleet of six Boeing 757-200s and match any fares that Thai Air Asia offers. They also have the frequency and capacity to offer to their 13 domestic destinations. They also have, during the past two years, worked to improve operational efficiency, slashing unprofitable domestic routes, increasing flights on busy routes, strengthening yield management and controlling costs. All these make Air Asia face a huge competition. Conclusion Air Asia Low cost airlines are anticipated to have greater potential in Asia as there are many Asian cities with a population above one million people each as well as a rising middle class population. It is time for AirAsia to exploit the potentials of affordable air travel by Asia’s growing middle class. Besides starting services to the Pearl River Delta in south China Air Asia can expand its services to the coastal cities in China. Besides the growth of Asian middle class, the liberalization of aviation sector of India is another reason for Air Asia to open more Asian market. The Indian government has liberalized the aviation sector long dominated by the national carriers. Now, only a few low cost airlines, e.g. Indigo, Go Air and Spice Jet have launched their services there. Moreover, the national carriers, Indian Airlines or Air India, despite their domination of the Indian skies, do not seem to be much interested in operating low-cost services. Air Asia has recently announced its arrival in India by tying with industrial giants Tata Group who incidentally pioneered aviation in the country. Air Asia should put more effort to set up a pan-Asian low cost airline with Virgin Blue, which is a low cost carrier of Virgin Group serving Australia and New Zealand mainly. Virgin Blue has suggested it may extend services to south-east Asia. Therefore, setting up a join venture with Virgin Blue can help AirAsia to grow in Asia even further, and help Virgin Blue to extend services to south-east Asia. This partnership could bring synergy between the two airlines and carry the same advantages for Air Asia as with its partnership with Shin Corp. in Thailand. A study by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation confirms that Asia continues to offer attractive conditions for the air transportation industry. With thirteen out of world’s top twenty-five major urban centres located in the Asia Pacific region and a rapidly increasing urbanization trends, the Asian air travel market is bound to continue to grow. Urbanization is highlighted as one of the key drivers for the growth in air travel. It is estimated that Asia would account for 30% of the world market by 2019, or one third of growth between now and then. Low Cost Carriers in Asia Over the last few years, lost cost carriers in Asia have been rapidly expanding and steadily eating into the market share of full service carriers. This trend shows no signs of abating as the region’s LCCs (low cost carriers) continue to order new aircraft at ferocious rates. By global standards, Asian LCCs are relatively small, but their growth profile is more extreme. For example, Air Asia has nearly 300 aircraft on order and India’s Indigo has more than 200, Lion Air (a low-cost, but full service airline not listed in this ranking) has well over 100 in the pipeline, each with international intentions, including plans for cross-border joint ventures. As the definition of LCC becomes more blurred, data in this area need to be looked at with some care – thus for example, Virgin Blue/Virgin Australia would no longer describe itself as a low-cost carrier, having evolved its product, while Lion Air displays many of the low-cost characteristics. Low-cost operations still account for only a small proportion of the region’s aviation activity relative to other regions. But this lower quantum should be viewed against the fact that most of the international LCC operations are confronted by bilateral constraints, in fact making the near-20% level impressive. [pic] The overall market in Asia is also growing much faster than other regions. The total Asian passenger market is expected to grow at a rate of about 10% per annum, reaching about 900 million passengers (excluding China) by 2020. As LCCs continue to increase their share of this market, by about two percentage points per annum, they are poised to grow at rate of about 20% per annum. The 20% figure is feasible based on current order books and fleet plans. The LCC growth rate in Asia could even accelerate in the latter portion of this decade and early portion of next decade based on orders recently placed for new narrow body aircraft. Asian LCCs account for a remarkable 65% (488 of 753) of the Airbus A320neos acquired by airline customers worldwide since Airbus launched the A320neo programme late last year (this figure includes MOUs and orders and is of the end of Jun-2011). Leasing companies have also so far committed to 276 A320neos, a large portion of which are expected to be placed with fast growing Asian LCCs. Not a single Asian full service carrier has yet ordered the A320neo (Garuda’s A320neo order is for its low-cost carrier unit Citilink). As Airbus has already sold all delivery slots for the A320neo until late 2018, the growth gap between Asia’s low-cost and full-service carriers on short/ medium-haul routes is likely to accelerate. The A320neo is scheduled to enter service in the fourth quarter of 2015, giving its operators a 15% improvement in fuel burn compared with the current-generation A320. As a result, Asia’s low-cost carriers which have acquired the A320neo will be able to further reduce their already world-leading unit costs. This will widen the competitive advantage LCCs already enjoy and push down fares within Asia further, allowing LCCs to potentially capture all the growth in short-haul markets. Asian full service carriers continue to place orders but these are predominantly for wide body aircraft which will be used on intercontinental routes. Within Asia, full service carriers are stuck in a position where ceding more market share to low-cost carriers is inevitable. It is possible that low-cost carriers could even control 50% of capacity within Asia sometime in the next decade. [pic] At the same time Asia could overtake Europe and North America as the largest LCC market. This would not surprise Asia’s largest low-cost carrier group, Air Asia. The group already expects to grow its fleet to about 500 A320 equivalent aircraft, which would make it the second largest low-cost carrier group in the world after Southwest. Even the 200 A320neos ordered in Jun-2011 may be insufficient to meet Air Asia’s growth requirements. The company is now committed to adding aircraft at a fairly conservative rate of 13 to 20 per year during 2012-2020. Air Asia Group CEO Tony Fernandes has said the group will be able to support 36 deliveries per year once the pending IPOs at its Indonesian and Thai affiliates are completed. The region’s appetite for low fares remains largely unsatisfied. This is evident in the widening load factor gap between LCCs and full service carriers. Load factors at several Asian flag carriers have slipped in recent months into the 70% range, while most low-cost carriers are experiencing loads well above 80% and in some cases even above 90%. All three of the big Asian low-cost carrier groups – Air Asia, Jetstar and Tiger – are currently expanding at rates exceeding 20% per annum. Some low-cost carriers have seen their profits slip this year as it can be difficult for LCCs to pass on rising fuel costs through fare increases. But LCCs have focused on improving ancillary revenues and load factors, allowing them to offset most of the increase in fuel costs. As long as fuel remains at or below its current level, Asia’s low-cost carriers should have a very profitable 2011 and outperform many of the region’s larger full service carriers, in the process again expanding market share. While it is hard to predict profits over the long term, the outlook for low-cost carriers in Asia is generally rosy and their rapid growth is expected to generally be profitable. Bibliography The information for this project has been obtained from the following sources: 1) Airline Leader 2) Wikipedia 3) Linkedin 4) Mayasian Journal of Media Studies 5) IBS Center for Management Research 6) Berg Consulting

LOG503 MOD 5 SLP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

LOG503 MOD 5 SLP - Essay Example Logistics Structure of Frito Lay The logistics process of Frito- Lay is carried out in six geographical zones and is quite complex in nature. The channel of distribution is quite an essential element for the organization. It has been observed that in the logistic department Frito-Lay engages women and minorities which facilitates in development and growth of the organization. A Supplier Diversity Program was established in 1983 in order to supply better quality of products and services through diverse suppliers at competitive prices. The program has permitted the organization to maintain proactivity through the development of communities in economic sphere. This comprehensive strategy enables the organization to integrate the operations with supply chain department for assisting suppliers and distributors to handle and deliver products within a stipulated time period. With the incorporation of women and minority groups in business activities, effective productivity can be ensured lea ding to greater sales and profitability. It enables the organization to gain competitive advantage in order to propagate effective results in business. Minority groups as well as women assist in building grater supplier base for smooth functioning of product deliverance in wider markets nationally as well as globally. Effective supply chain stimulates organizational effectiveness and enhances sales through efficient logistics systems. The Supplier Diversity Program is enabling to maintain effective supply chain activities and it also helps Woman Owned Business Enterprises (MWBEs) in various divisions of PepsiCo (Frito-Lay North America, 2013). Furthermore, in terms of the other crucial components in the logistics structure of Frito-Lays, it can be recognized that it follows an incorporated outbound supply chain based activities. It aims to optimize the transportation as well as inventory decisions. Moreover, there are a number of distribution centers of the company on a global basis which provide required amount of products to the retail outlets on time. Through the process of supply chain optimization, key performance indicators in the logistics process of the company are looked after by a number of teams. It facilitates to reduce the amount of travel required by vehicles to reach out to their desired destinations. Superior technologies are used within the process of implementing best practices in the logistics related activities. Strategic sequencing technique is used streamline the sales which facilitates to reduce travel distance (Transport Canada, 2010). Improving the Logistics Process of Frito Lay It has been recognized that Frito- Lay’s logistics activities consist of outbound activities in the supply chain management that stimulate the transportation and inventory decisions. The logistic processes also include the delivery of products through trucks in an efficient manner. The organization possesses efficient information technology process throu gh which the shipment of products, availability of raw materials and the level of inventory are effectively handled at any point of time. With relation to the learning obtained during the course, it can be recognized that despite having efficient informa

The Law of Tort Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

The Law of Tort - Case Study Example Ancillary claims are founded on accusations of intentional infliction of emotional distress.4 The discussion that follows examines the development of the Tort of Trespass and the available defences to such claims. Assault is any conduct which puts an individual in fear of immediate unlawful harm or force upon his or her person.5 In other words, physical contact is not a necessary element in the Tort of assault. Intention to cause harm is not a necessary element in the Tort of Trespass to the person founded on a claim of assault. Lord Denning stated early on in the case of Letang v Cooper [1965] QB 232 that: Reasonable apprehension of injury or even mere contact is sufficient to substantiate a trespass to the person claim in assault. It matters not whether the intended victim is afraid or is capable of thwarting any assault. The test is an objective one and will depend on the reasonable apprehension of the reasonable man, rather than the particular and unique characteristics of the intended victim. In Stephens v Myers (1830) 4 C & P 349 the defendant was ordered to leave a parish meeting. In retaliation he launched for the chairman but the church warden quickly interceded and therefore no contact was made. After finding the defendant liable for the Tort of assault, Lord Tindal, CJ said that: For example in Thomas v Num [1986] Ch. ... However, if there is no reason to believe that the defendant can physically carry out his or her threat, the Tort of assault will not be substantiated. As Lord Tindal said: "'it is not every threat, when there is no actual physical violence, that constitutes an assault, there must, in all cases, be the means of carrying the threat into effect."8 For example in Thomas v Num [1986] Ch. 20 pickets making threats of violence accompanied by threatening gestures were held back by police and those to whom the threats were directed gained entry to the premises under protest via vehicles. There was no assault since the defendants could not have carried out their threatened conduct. In the circumstances of the case the reasonable man, having regard to the restraint placed upon the defendants by police presence could not have reasonably apprehended harm.9 At one time words alone could not constitute an assault. The case relied upon was R v Meade and Belt (1823) 1 Lew CC 184 in which it was held that: "'no words or singing are equivalent to an assault".10 However, in the case of R v Ireland [1998] AC 147 the House of Lords departed from this rule. Although the case itself was concerned with the criminal offence of assault it stands to reason that the same logic applies to the Tort of Trespass to the person with respect to assault. It was held that: "'the means by which persons of evil disposition may intentionally or carelessly cause another to fear immediate and unlawful violence vary according to circumstances".11 Lord went on to add that: "The proposition that a gesture may amount to an assault, but that words can never suffice, is unrealistic and indefensible. A thing said

Disclosure Analysis Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 3

Disclosure Analysis Paper - Essay Example Assets assist in determining the value of the company; hence, providing information to investors. A comprehensive financial report should provide a total of the fixed and current assets that an organization has in order to give support in the calculation of the total amount of working capital available (Israelsen, 2001). The ratio between the total number of assets available to the total number of liabilities aids in coming up with the working capital of an organization. Therefore, a ratio above one indicates that the company has more chances of success rather than failure. The Christopher Corporation segments its company assets into three key parts, which include current assets, fixed assets and other assets. The first category, which includes current assets like cash equivalents and cash, receivables and inventory, convert to cash easily and faster. The cash and cash equivalents engross cash in hand, cash at bank and treasury bills that add up to a total of 20, 000 dollars. In the case of Christopher Corporation, the amount of money available is low indicating that the company has fewer assets in the form of cash. Cash equivalents such as the treasury bills and the cash at bank also seem generally low. A retail business incurs a number of expenses, and the rate of cash inflow is lower than the amount of cash outflow. Additionally, a large number of debtors could also lead to low cash count. The second category of current assets includes receivables, which mainly constitute of debtors. Debts to a business refer to the amount of money other people, groups or firms owe the subject company, which is Christopher Corporation. Debts are either long term or short term depending on the agreement. In the above balance sheet, the records show that the corporation has a total of $60,000 receivable debts. As a trade organization, the company may sell some products or services on credit. A

Surgery Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Surgery - Case Study Example The patient is physically active and does not have any known allergies. Her height and weight on admission were 70 kg and 178 cm high respectively. She currently presented to the emergency department on the 27th April 2009 with a history of sudden, acute right sided abdominal pain which was associated with nausea. The patient was thus admitted with a diagnosis of acute right sided abdominal pain and her code status was full. History of presenting illness: According to the patient she was in her usual state of health until late this morning when she developed sudden right sided abdominal pain. The pain was colicky in nature and was associated with a feeling of nausea. It was localized in the right lower quadrant and there was no radiation. There were no particular aggravating factors. The pain was slightly reduced in supine position. The intensity of the pain increased gradually throughout the day and by the evening it became unbearable. Thus, the patient was rushed to the ER. Menstrual History: The patient reported having regular menstrual cycles of 4/28 days with normal flow. She has no complains of dysmenorrhea or intermenstrual bleeding. Her last menstrual period (LMP) was on the 20th of December 2008 and currently she is 18 weeks pregnant with twins. Sexual History: The patient lives with her steady boyfriend of 10 years. The couple report having regular, unprotected sexual intercourse. The frequency of intercourse is at least twice a week. There are no complains of dysparunea, post coital bleeding or any other problems. Past Obstetric History: The woman has had two previous deliveries, seven years and three years back. Both were normal vaginal deliveries. Both pregnancies followed an uncomplicated course and there were no issues like pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes. Social History: The woman did not have any addictions or allergies. She works as a full time employ in an education center and lives with her two children, a boy and a girl, aged seven years and three years, respectively. The patient is physically active and likes to engage in sports such as netball. Moreover, she also reports going to the gym five days a week. Findings on Examination: On inspection, there were no visible signs of any abnormalities. On palpation, the abdomen was soft, but significant guarding was present. There was localized tenderness in the right lower quadrant. No palpable masses were found. The gut sounds were present. Shifting dullness and fluid thrill were absent. Pain score on arrival: 7 out of 10 Investigations ordered and their results: On arrival in the ward and abdominal ultrasound was ordered to elucidate the cause of the abdominal pain and it revealed a right sided ovarian cyst which was 16 cm in diameter. Nursing Assessment: A young female patient, 18 weeks pregnant with twins, presenting with right sided abdominal pain, tender on palpation, feeling nauseated on arrival and has a pain score 7 out of 10. Nursing Diagnosis: Acute right side abdominal pain Management Plan: On the basis of the ultrasound, it was decided

See description Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

See description - Research Paper Example Medicare furnishes healthcare program to help such disadvantaged financial situations of the elderly U.S. residents. The workforce pays taxes to the government throughout the employment period. This accumulated money of the individual in the form of taxes is given back after 65 years of age independent of their current working status. While, the Medicaid delivers healthsecurity net to necessitous and vulnerable population, and are executed by individual State separately. Medicare’s senior enrollee can also be a part of Medicaid. Medicaid enrollees can avail additional cost benefits over Medicare for prescription drugs, diagnostic and preventive care, and eyeglasses (Nolo ®, 2010). The recipients of Medicare and Medicaid can overlap. In such cases, the entitled enrollee of Medicaid offers financial help for Medicare deductibles and the Medicare premium. As the global, political, social and environmental factors are charnging at fast pace, each federal program is facing ongoing challenges.These challenges are carried over and entire health care system is trapped into vicious cycle. Financing of Medicare as well as Medicaid is the most emerging issue due to corollary effect of general aging of society, economic recession, and unemployment. Managed care is the major health service program subsequent to the arrival of Medicare to reduce the cost of health care services for patients. Managed care plans are health insurance plans frequently involves unreasonable limits on visits with health care providers and medical facilities. But it no longer is viewed by most employers and federal and state governments as the primary means by which health care costs can be brought under control due to vested interest of individuals in America’s health care delivery system (Boyle & Callahan, 1995). Managed care system is connected with several legislative acts because of which it drew into controversy to give best service in the interests of patients. The clinicians,

Single Fathers Raising Daughters Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Single Fathers Raising Daughters - Term Paper Example The problem arises on how to balance housework with, to name one, office or field work. Fathers may opt for child care. However, child care poses a redefinition of the father concept. This paper explores the issues and concerns confronted by single fathers in raising their children. Sanders (1998) wondered when women from college accused him and the male sex of having owned all the pleasures of this world. Such finger pointing, however, is in conflict with what he knows about men. Sanders (1998) perceived men either as warriors or toilers. He even contrasted men against women by saying that men â€Å"wore out sooner.† On the other hand, Sanders (1998) stated that women lived longer. The reason for this sharp contrast is that the nature of men’s work or profession is stiff and life-threatening. Sanders (1998) described this sex as men who labor â€Å"with their bodies.† On the other side of the scale, Brownmiller (1998) said that men are seen, by and large, to have the â€Å"tough mental fiber, the intellectual muscle, to stay in control.† Here, Kriegel (1998) was able to quickly see the paradox. He analyzed that if to be a man is to be tough, smart, and â€Å"capable,† then men must always strive and struggle to prove their manhood. In his autobiographical essay, Kriegel (1998) showed how hard it is for men to fulfill the pressures of gender expectations. Furthermore, to escape in these social pressures is colossal. Sanders and Kriegel are few of the men (and fathers) who encounter gender stereotyping. Kite (2001) defined stereotype, generally, as an oversimplified opinion, perception, and image, serving as a component of prejudice. Specifically, Kite (2001) classified gender stereotype as a systematic or consensual opinions about the nature of men and women and the supposed qualities of masculinity and femininity. There has been a significant increase, for several decades past, of families headed by single

The History and Future of Social Networking Research Paper

The History and Future of Social Networking - Research Paper Example Apart from this, they may make use of the additional services offered online, such as joining of groups or communities. Social networks are mostly established over the World Wide Web and give the users an opportunity to interact with each other, via messaging, email and sharing of pictures or videos. Often in scenarios, online community service may also fall under the aforementioned banner, as they tend to be group-centered. Social networking sites may give birth to new innovations and ideas amongst people. Body There are numerous types of social networking sites or services; however the most common types are those which allow the users to connect with friends maintain categories and introduce recommendations. Most of the social networking sites are based in America and include the likes of Facebook, Google Plus. Linked In and Twitter are used globally by billions of people, across the globe (Meyerson, 2010, p.141). It must be noted that the authorities have carried out several effor ts at homogenizing the social networking service. These steps were taken in order to reduce duplication on the social networking sites. In the year 2011, the results of a survey showed that more than forty seven percent of the Americans were avid users of social networking sites and services. ... The conception of social networking services was done through the Bulletin Board System. The Bulletin Board System was a software that permitted the users to connect to the system, making use of the respective program, making communication effective. However, the Bulletin Board System proved rather ineffective in the longer run, as connections could not be established through longer distances and it was expensive in cost. Before the Internet could come into limelight as the sole medium for social networking services, there were other avenues that opened along the way too. CompuServe was one of such initiatives, introduced in the 1970s and later made public during the 1980s decade. This service permitted its members to have access to news and events across the world. They also enjoyed the liberty of sharing files and pictures with each other, sending instant messages via email and joining the discussion forums of CompuServe. â€Å"But if there is a true precursor to today’s so cial networking sites, it was likely spawned under the AOL umbrella. In many ways, and for many people, AOL was the Internet before the Internet, and its member-created communities, complete with searchable â€Å"Member Profiles,† in which users would list pertinent details about themselves, were arguably the service’s most fascinating, forward-thinking feature† (Goble, 2012). The year 1995, gave birth to the revolution in the Internet industry with the evolution of websites, such as Yahoo, Amazon and MSN, which were to set the foundations of the current social networking strata in the world. The social networking services have observed an emerging trend in the recent past. These social bookmarking websites are increasing in numbers day after day, every day a new website is launched

Cave present us with a coherent picture of Platos ideas Essay Example for Free

Cave present us with a coherent picture of Platos ideas Essay The purpose of the simile of the Sun is to show the difference between knowledge and opinion. In the world of opinion the sun gives light for us to gain empirical knowledge through sight. Objects (such as tables and mugs) and concepts (such as beauty and love) are part of the world of opinion because they are detected by our senses. The Form of beauty (or love) exists in the realm of the Forms. Plato believed that the Form of good gives philosophers knowledge of the Forms. The Form of Good gives the minds eye the power of knowledge and illuminates other Forms with truth and reality. In this way the Form of good allows us to see other forms and ultimately it allows us to see the form of good. The sun is also the source of all growth, and thus the Form of good is the source of all the Forms, and the cause of all existence. In the Sun, Platos idea is that visibility is opinion and the Form of good gives us the reality behind visibility knowledge of the Forms. The divided line goes into more depth on Platos previous idea. Although an abstract example, Plato uses it to try and make his idea simpler. Plato believed that there were four different states of the mind, and four different states of reality, both progressing from a lower level (illusion / images and shadows) to a higher level (intelligence / Forms). The lowest level is the second hand images of physical things. As Plato thought that physical things were just in the mind anyway, a shadow of a physical thing is the lowest form of knowledge, which corresponds to illusion in the mind. The next step up is physical things, which also covers sciences as they are based on the study of physical things. Belief is the empirical knowledge of physical thing, but is still opinion. The upper half of the divided line has mathematical reasoning, which is part of deductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning does not rely on empirical knowledge and so mathematical reasoning is not based on belief. The reasoning perceives mathematical ideas, which are based on some belief (such as seeing a square, you have a mathematical idea about the square), but these ideas do not rely on belief. The highest kind of knowledge in the mind is intelligence, which can only be reached by the philosopher. Mathematical reasoning leads to intelligence, but mathematical ideas (part of the intelligible world) lead to knowledge of the Forms. In the idea of the Divided Line, Plato is showing us in more detail the differences between knowledge and opinion. He suggests progressions from both illusion to pure thought, and from the less real (images and shadows) to the truly real (the Forms). He also makes two clear distinctions between the world of knowledge and opinion (in the mind), and the world of appearances and the intelligible world (in reality). Platos idea of the Forms and the distinctions between the mind and reality have been coherent between the Sun and the Divided Line both showing very similar ideas but in different attentions to detail. There is a slight incoherence though. In the simile of the Sun, Plato tells us that the Form of good gives us power to see all forms, yet in the Divided Line it is unclear if the Form of good gives any power at all, as it appears to be mathematical ideas which allow us to perceive the Forms. It may be though that these mathematical ideas simply give way to the Form of good so it can allow us to see the Forms. The Simile of the Cave moves into more specific detail on the accent of the mind from illusion to knowledge, shown by the prisoners accent from the cave to the outside world (intelligible world). The simile is also an example of the divided line, using ideas put forward such as shadows, physical things, illusion, the Forms (the Sun) etc. Like the Sun simile Plato depicts the Form of good as the greatest of all lights. There is a road between the fire and cave, maybe to portray a clear conversion from illusion to intelligence. There are people talking outside holding statues. Their voices and the images of the statues are projected into the cave, and the prisoners believe these are real. The people trapped in the cave are all looking at shadows of statues (images themselves) projected against the wall, and therefore are doubly ignorant. Plato allows a prisoner to be released, and he walks towards the fire where he is dazzled. It hurts him, and he is told that the people on the road are real and that the shadows are nonsense. He returns to the cave: choosing illusion. Plato is showing a would-be philosopher failing his journey of knowledge, due to a flawed character. Later on, the prisoner is taken into the sunlight and held until his eyes grow accustomed to the sunlight. Once accustomed he can see shadows and reflections within time. Plato here brings in the idea from the simile of the Sun, creating a coherent idea between the two similes, that the Form of good (the Sun) allows the philosopher to see other things until finally he can see the forms, and finally the Form of good itself (the Sun). Through duty the prisoner returns to the cave and is blinded by the darkness. This is an idea Plato has that the eyes can be blinded by the light and by the dark, as the mind can be confused by greater and lesser minds. This continues a coherent idea of Platos from the Sun simile, the idea of the Sun and the Mind, or if we were to bring the Divided Line into this, Reality and the Mind. So far Plato has created a seemingly coherent picture of knowledge and opinion. After descending from the Forms the prisoner tells the other prisoners the statues. He has seen the Form of justice and they have only seen the shadow of justice, and so they hold different views and therefore he is put on trial. Plato here is showing societys view of the philosopher ruler in a similar way as he does with the simile of the Ship. The different states of the Mind in the Divided Line are straight comparisons to features of the Cave. Illusion is the shadows cast by firelight; belief is the statues of things and the fire; mathematical reasoning is the shadows and reflections of real things of which the images are made; intelligence is the things themselves (moon and stars), and finally the Form of Good is the Sun. Plato uses a coherent idea throughout as appears to use similar / the same ideas in each of his similes (i.e., The Sun the Form of Good). There are problems in each of the similes and they all have points where they break down and lose a certain amount of coherence. In the simile of the Sun, although Plato would not have known at the time, the eyes are not charged up by the Sun, like he wanted us to think. Within the simile, therefore, the Form of Good no longer charges the mind with the power of seeing the Forms, but rather casts light onto other Forms. This is not what Plato wanted to portray. In the Sun, Plato explores the idea of the Sun being the ultimate Form in detail, but in the Cave, the sun itself is forgotten, and is seen more as a goal, or object, than as a metaphor for knowledge. Plato uses the fire and statues in more detail than the sun in the Cave simile, giving a better explanation of knowledge, which creates incoherence between the use of the sun in the Sun simile and its use in the Cave. In the simile of the Cave, mathematical ideas are not mentioned at all, not even in the accent to the Forms. This breaks down the idea of the Divided Line. A solution would be though that in the Divided Line, mathematical ideas are implied rather than stated: Plato may not even have mentioned the idea of mathematical ideas. This may be a reason why Plato did not mention them in the Cave. Plato says the prisoners only perceive shadows, which means the lowest level of knowledge illusion. This implies that Athenians cannot even see physical things, which is absurd because, unless all Athenians are blind, they will be able to visibly see objects such as tables, chairs, knifes etc. He also contradicts what he said earlier in the section on the Philosopher Ruler, that people in general only experience opinion / belief. This is only a problem if we use a strict interpretation, and in that case it would not be a simile at all, as similes should be open to wide interpretation. Another problem occurring in the Cave is that the shadows are used to describe illusion once, and mathematical reasoning another time. If we take the Divided Line, shadows should show illusion, and mathematical reasoning should be based upon physical things and a certain amount of belief. Plato has misused his metaphor of shadows in one of these similes and created an inconsistency. Although Plato has given us a clear picture of what his idea of knowledge and opinion is, and how the Form of Good fits into it, he has left many questions unanswered and a lot of gaps which need filling. His similes have been written and laid out in such a way that they can be interpreted in many varying, some contradictory fashions. This leads to the question of did Plato actually know himself where he was going with his arguments, or did he make them up as he went along? I personally think he thought them out well, but had to manipulate some things to fit in with his line of reasoning. This is perhaps a reason why these three similes are partly incoherent.

Research on Science Essay Example for Free

Research on Science Essay ABSTRACT The study explores ways in which students who have participated in a curriculum innovation, Science ALIVE! acquire Science process skills and perceive the relevance of Science in everyday life. It investigates whether students have, after the programme, perceived an improvement in applying Science process skills. Four classes of Secondary 2 Express students attended one of four modules in the Science ALIVE! programme and responded to a pre- and post-course survey to measure their perceived skill competency for each process skill. They also responded to questions on whether the programme enhanced their awareness of the relevance of Science in everyday life. Five students from each module were selected to provide written feedback at mid-course and write a journal after the course. The content of their feedback and journals were analysed to provide deeper insight of the results of the perception surveys. The data was triangulated with teachers’ feedback, which was used to provide insight of the factors that affect the acquisition of the process skills. The findings show significant increase in students’ perception of skill competency while a high percentage of students indicated that the programme has made them more aware of the relevance of Science in their lives. INTRODUCTION Traditional learning approaches in which students are passive recipients of knowledge are inconsistent with the call for Singapore schools to Teach Less, Learn More (TLLM). There is a need to allow learning to occur in settings that are relevant to students’ experiences and real world problems. In Clementi Town Secondary School (CTSS), Project Work was used as a platform for students to transfer their learning and apply in authentic applications. However, teachers who had conducted Project Work for Science at Secondary 2 observed that students’ projects lacked depth in the specific content area, and the skills needed for scientific investigations. This spurred the need to cover content knowledge relevant to the projects assigned. It also raised the concern that Science process skills, as stipulated in the MOE Lower Secondary Science (LSS) Syllabus, were not sufficiently emphasised compared to acquiring scientific knowledge. Teachers also indicated that students were una ble to appreciate the relevance of Science in solving problems in their lives after past Project Work tasks. Science Process Skills â€Å"Science process skills† is commonly used to describe a set of broadly transferable abilities that are reflective of what scientists do. These skills are grouped into two types – basic and integrated. Basic process skills provide a foundation for learning the integrated skills, which are more complex skills for solving problems or doing Science experiments. In this study, reflecting is listed as a process skill to be investigated, though it is usually considered part of thinking skills which is a broader category that subsumes process skills. Some Science educators have argued that â€Å"teaching students Science facts is not as important as developing their Science process skills so that they can learn this knowledge on their own† (Young, 1995). Studies in the United States have shown that elementary school students who are taught process skills, not only learn to use those processes, but also retain them for future use. In Singapore, the MOE Primary Science syllabus also emphasises the teaching of basic process skills and some integrated skills, while the LSS syllabus emphasises the use of process skills for planning investigations and creative problem solving, and other thinking skills. Curriculum design plays an important role in the acquisition of Science process skills. The MOE Assessment Guidelines for LSS recommends an explicit teaching of the process skills, followed by the integration of these skills by students in experimenting or carrying out investigative projects. Padilla (1990) pointed out that â€Å"when Science process skills are a specific planned outcome of a Science programme, those skills can be learned by students Teachers need to select curricula which emphasise Science process skills.† These basic skills are learnt more effectively if they are considered an important object of instruction and if proven teaching methods are used. There must be a deliberate effort to focus on teaching process skills through a modified LSS curriculum. Young (1995) recommended that if teachers have the freedom to select their own topics, they should choose topics of direct interest to themselves and which would excite students. Science knowledge serves as background for lessons but should not take up the whole lesson. Instead, more time should be spent on activities that enhance the understanding of Science concepts and improve Science skills. Some studies have shown that instead of using the didactic approach, teaching Science through the use of activity-based approaches significantly improved students’ achievement in Science process skills (Beaumont-Walters, 2001). Berry et al (1999) suggested a few crucial factors that influence the acquisition of process skills used in laboratory work. Firstly, students need the relevant content knowledge that is assumed by the task to be mentally engaged. For example, a more knowledgeable student would be able to explain an observation, which in turn â€Å"validates† his knowledge and gives him a certain amount of intellectual satisfaction. The ‘doing’ of Science has to be coupled with ‘learning about’ Science, if students are to appreciate the value of scientific inquiry (Haigh et al, 2005). A second factor suggested by Berry et al (1999) is students’ ownership of laboratory tasks. Ownership would be more apparent in open laboratory tasks, where the student has to design his own experiment than in closed laboratory tasks, where the â€Å"correct† experimental procedure is written out in a â€Å"cookbook† style and the student is likely to carry out the tasks unthinkingly. Another effective strategy to enhance students’ process skills would be to let students keep a â€Å"scientific journal† (Tomkins Tunnicliffe, 2001). It was observed that diary writers tend to build more confidence in their own interpretations, engage in intellectual debates with themselves over the plausibility of their explanations and ask questions that are more quantifiable. Relevance of Science in everyday life Research studies conducted in recent decades on students’ perception of school Science have consistently shown that they perceive Science as not relevant (Bennett, 2001). Similar findings have raised a serious concern in several countries. For instance, a report by the Dutch Ministry of Education in 2002 observed that secondary school students did not see a connection between what they learnt in Chemistry lessons and the chemistry happening around them (Van Aalsvoort, 2004a). A subsequent report recommended teaching Science in context. However, a study carried out on a contextualised Science curriculum introduced to Swaziland students highlighted some shortcomings (Campbell et al, 2000). The findings showed that less than half of the sample students could draw on Science concepts to explain everyday experiences or solve everyday problems. It was suggested that contextualised learning could be made more effective through student-initiated project work on everyday problems. Van Aalsvoort (2004b) suggested using activity theory to address the issue of the relevance of Chemistry in chemical education, where reflection plays a key role in evaluating and developing an activity. Reflection could be carried out through writing reflection journals, which also helped enhance the acquisition of process skills, as mentioned earlier (Tomkins Tunnicliffe, 2001). According to Van Aalsvoort (2004a), relevance can be defined in four aspects: (i) personal relevance – Science education makes connections to students’ lives; (ii) professional relevance – Science education offers students a picture of possible professions; (iii) social relevance – Science education clarifies the purpose of Science in human and social issues; and (iv) personal/social relevance – Science education helps students develop into responsible citizens. This study considers relevance in three aspects – personal, professional and social. INTERVENTION Project Work aims for students to transfer the learning of concepts into applications in authentic settings. To address the areas of concern raised by teachers teaching Project Work, the Science ALIVE! programme was conceived to integrate Project Work and the LSS syllabus. This 13-week programme was conducted during Semester 2 of the Secondary 2 Express Science curriculum and used alternative assessment to replace the traditional end-ofyear examination. In this programme, a team of teachers crafted four modules which covered a variety of topics from Biology, Chemistry and Physics. As a motivating factor, students could choose from one of the four modules offered: Aroma Chemistry, Biodiversity, Life Science and Water Rockets. In each Science ALIVE! module, specific content knowledge was taught using hands-on strategies such as laboratory work, field trips, journal writing and group discussions. These strategies were intended to promote student engagement. Most importantly, the programme addressed the three key issues of concern in the following ways: 1. Content knowledge covered was specific to each module and relevant to the projects that students were assigned. This enabled students to better transfer the concepts to the projects. 2. Science process skills could be applied by students through journal writing, laboratory work and investigative project work. Science process skills were used as criteria for assessment to emphasise their importance and focus. 3. To enhance the relevance of Science, students were given a choice of the elective module to study, and to decide on the problem to work on for their projects. Contextualised learning, which draws on scientific understanding to explain everyday situations, was consciously infused into the curriculum design for each module. Reflection journals were written after selected activities, which according to activity theory helped students evaluate their learning (Van Aalsvoort, 2004b). RESEARCH QUESTIONS The two research questions are: (1) How does the Science ALIVE! programme help students to apply their Science process skills? And (2) How can the Science ALIVE! programme enhance the relevance of Science in students’ lives? METHODOLOGY Participants 147 students from all four Secondary 2 Express classes attended the Science ALIVE! programme and participated in the study. Pre- and post-course perception surveys were conducted for all students to measure their perception of their skill competency and their awareness of the relevance of Science in their lives through the programme. In addition, five students were selected from each module to give written feedback in week 8 (mid-course) and write a journal in week 13 (at the end of the course). To provide maximum variation, the five students from each module were selected based on their Science grade in Semester 1 and their reasons for selecting the module which reflected their motivational level. Instruments In the pre- and post-course surveys, students were asked to rate their perception of their Science process skills using a four-point Likert scale. The post-course survey included an item to measure students’ perception of increased awareness of the relevance of Science in their lives. Data Analysis For survey items on Science process skills, the mean value of each skill was calculated for the individual module (Table 2) as well as across all modules (Table 1). Skills with ratings of less than 3 (out of 4) were identified and analysed. The differences in mean values for pre- and post-course surveys were compared. The differences were considered significant if there was an increase or decrease of at least 0.3 in value (or 10% of the range of scale used). Journals and mid-course written feedback of the 20 selected students were used to surface possible reasons for these perceptions. The data was triangulated with teachers’ feedback, which was used to provide insight of the factors that affect the acquisition of the process skills. For the survey item on the relevance of Science, the total percentage of students who indicated an â€Å"Agree† or â€Å"Strongly Agree† was computed for each module. Content analysis of the journals and written feedback from the selected students were carried out. Frequency counts of the responses were based on three categories: personal, professional and social relevance. Teachers’ feedback was used to provide depth to the findings. RESULTS Acquisition of Science process skills The perception of all students on the level of their skill competency before and after the Science ALIVE! programme was measured through surveys. The survey results were compared using the mean values for each process skill, as shown in Table 1. Table 1: Comparison of students’ perception of skills before and after Science ALIVE! Mean value (scale 1 – 4) Pre-Course Post-Course 3.1 3.2 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 3.1 2.8 2.6 3.0 3.0 2.7 3.1 3.2 Process Skill (a) Elaborating (Research) (b) Conducting scientific investigations (Planning investigations) (c) Conducting scientific investigations (Using scientific apparatus) (d) Conducting scientific investigations (Analysing data) (e) Communicating (Writing scientific reports) (f) Reflecting (g) Questioning (Learning by asking questions) In the pre-course survey, the items which scored less than 3 are the skills of ‘planning investigations’, ‘using scientific apparatus’, ‘analysing data’, ‘writing scientific reports’ and ‘learning by asking questions’. Students’ perception rating increased in the following skills ‘using scientific apparatus’, ‘analysing data’ and ‘learning by asking questions’ suggesting that the Science ALIVE! programme had benefited them in these areas, with the exception of ‘planning investigations’ and ‘writing scientific reports’ where there was marginal increase or no change between the pre- and post-course rating. This revealed that in general, students still did not have much confidence in these skills and suggests that more could be done in the next cycle to guide students in these aspects. The changes in the rating for items (b), (c) and (d) in the pre- and post-course surveys suggest that students’ perceptions that their skills in handling apparatus and equipment have improved. This could be attributed to the fact that students were introduced to various new apparatus or equipment during project experiments in all modules. For example, the Biodiversity module used dataloggers which was equipment new to students. Skills in items (b), (c) and (d) are all part of the process of conducting scientific investigations. However, there was only a marginal increase in the rating for (b) ‘planning investigations’ after the programme. This could be because planning investigations is a higher order process skill which encompasses making hypothesis, identifying variables and writing the experimental procedures. Analysis of Science process skills by skill category The results were further categorised to compare and study the changes in students’ perception of skill competency for the individual modules, as shown in Table 2. Table 2: Comparison of perception of skill competency by module Mean value (Scale 1 – 4) BioLife diversity Science Pre Post Pre Post 2.9 3.2 3.0 3.3 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.9 3.3 2.9 2.4 2.9 2.8 2.4 3.3 3.3 2.4 2.9 2.7 2.5 3.1 2.9 2.8 3.0 3.1 2.9 3.2 3.0 Module Process Skill (a) Elaborating (Research) (b) Conducting investigations (Planning investigations) (c) Conducting investigations (Using scientific apparatus) (d) Conducting investigations (Analysing data) (e) Communicating (Writing scientific report) (f) Reflecting (g) Questioning (Learning by asking questions) Elaborating Aroma Chemistry Pre Post 3.3 3.2 2.6 2.4 2.6 2.7 3.1 3.0 2.7 3.1 2.9 2.7 2.8 3.2 Water Rockets Pre Post 3.1 3.1 2.3 2.4 2.6 2.5 2.9 2.6 2.5 3.0 2.9 2.7 3.0 3.2 The results of item (a) in the pre- and post-surveys showed an increase in rating for this skill for the Biodiversity and Life Science modules. This could be because these modules are more content-based topics, which require greater use of such skills. It should, however, be noted that for Aroma Chemistry module, the pre-course survey score was already high and it might be difficult to make further significant improvement. From the written feedback of selected students in the 8th week of the programme, half indicated that they had learnt to research to look for more information. All five students from the Biodiversity module wrote that they had learnt to assess â€Å"how reliable the sources are†. For example, one student from the module wrote in her journal that â€Å"before creating our ecosystem, we need to do research on the organisms that we choose, on what they feed on and their suitable habitat† (Student S8). Teachers conducting the programme felt that most students were still at the developmental stage of doing research, as they could not extract relevant information from sources. They also observed that some students lacked the initiative and discipline to do research work, though teachers had provided a list of resources. This could be seen in project reports, where the evidence of research is lacking. A likely explanation for this observation is the past practice of didactic teaching, resulting in students â€Å"so used to being given all materials and information by teachers that they do not know how to get started† (Teacher T3). Teacher T1 recommended the need to balance between providing students with information and allowing them to be independent in their learning. Conducting Scientific Investigations For item (b) on ‘planning investigations’, the Life Science module had the largest increase in perception rating (more than 10%). Here the Life Science teacher explained that students were taught how to design experiments step-by-step with given examples. The importance of planning in investigations is stated by one of the students in the module: When we need to choose something, we need to think about all its aspects. After everything is ok, we can start work (Student S14). However, Teacher T2 commented that students still needed a lot of hand-holding and practice to be competent. A student from another module echoed this: â€Å"I am not sure how to design an experiment on my own†. Item (c) on the practical skill of ‘using scientific apparatus’ or equipment had the largest increase for all modules, except Life Science where the initial pre-course rating was already high (mean 2.9). All modules were designed to include more hands-on activities, which required the use of apparatus and equipment. One student wrote about the importance of using the right procedures as he â€Å"learnt how to use steam distillation by setting up the apparatus correctly and doing the extraction properly† (Student S2), while another student shared her new skill of using â€Å"dataloggers to measure the different abiotic factors from the †¦forests† (Student S7). Teachers observed that the students were excited and enjoyed themselves when using new apparatus. On their part, teachers also sought to infuse rigour by ensuring that students perform the experimental procedures accurately. The enjoyment of Science through hands-on activities, particularly laboratory work, was a motivating factor in learning Science. The rating for the skill of analysing or inferring from experimental data in item (d) increased more for three modules than for the Biodiversity module. This could be the result of students being given more opportunities to handle experimental data in their projects and make conclusions for the Aroma Chemistry, Life Science and Water Rockets modules. On the other hand, the investigative project for Biodiversity was of a smaller scale, and students’ main form of project assessment was a conservation proposal. One factor which attributed to the increase in perception rating was group collaboration. As students did their projects in groups, they could discuss how to analyse the data obtained from the investigations. Students analysed their data in various ways depending on the type of data collected in each module. For example, Student S11 commented: â€Å"I got a chance to compare and compile the results of surveys, test the reliability of our product, put into tables and identify the similarities and differences present. Others learnt to analyse the cause of problems in their projects, as noted by Student S16: â€Å"†¦ our rocket failed in launching and we realise that the problem is due to the leaking of our rocket†. Teachers however concurred in their observations that though students could comment on their data, their analysis lacked depth. Besides these investigative skills, many students also reflected in their journals that they had developed observation skills during practical work and investigations. One student wrote: â€Å"In the past, I would have just used my eyes. Now I have learnt to use all of my five senses to know more about the subject I am observing† (Student S10). Communicating In item (e), ‘writing scientific reports’ was the focus in the skill of communicating. Though there was no change in overall student perception (see Table 1), Table 2 showed a significant drop in the rating for Biodiversity module compared to an increase in Life Science module. The Biodiversity teacher attributed the drop in rating to students’ â€Å"realisation and shock† in receiving feedback on their first report draft, as they â€Å"did not anticipate scientific reports to be of slightly different nature and demands though they were briefed†. But she noted that the provision of formative feedback and the re-drafting of reports helped students in this skill. The Life Science teacher linked the increased rating to having provided illustrative examples and templates for students, but she felt that they were still lacking in the skill and could be given more practice. Students’ journals hardly mentioned this skill, except Student S10 who wrote that he â€Å"learnt to sieve through the report for important points to put in the abstract†. Reflecting Generally, students felt that they were able to reflect on their lessons. Item (f) in Table 2 showed an initial high rating which was unchanged after the programme. Students saw their journals as an â€Å"opportunity to clarify and reflect upon their learning† (Student S3). At the end of the programme, a few students said that the reflections helped to monitor their understanding of lessons, and one student mentioned that she would research on the internet to address questions she had (Student S1). Teachers believed that â€Å"journal writing and providing consistent formative feedback help(ed) the students develop reflection skills† (Teacher T1). However, specific journal prompts are necessary to guide students so that they do not simply give a detailed account of the activities and concepts covered without reflecting on the learning points (Teacher T2). Questioning The survey results of item (g) showed more significant increase in the Biodiversity and Water Rockets modules. For each module, students acquired this skill through reflecting on their lessons in their journals and then asking relevant questions to find out more. One student reflected that she dared to ask more questions in class after learning to ask questions through journals (Student S6). Students had opportunities to generate questions when they were verifying the reliability of information. They also formulated questions prior to industrial visits and field trips, and posed them to the experts. At the mid-course feedback, a few students mentioned that they learnt to â€Å"raise questions in class† through ways such as â€Å"being a questioner in group discussions† (Student S13). The Biodiversity teacher attributed this improvement to conducive â€Å"lesson environment and delivery (that) promotes questioning†. Such lesson delivery may include guiding questions in class activities and journal prompts that encouraged further questioning, and peer evaluation where students critiqued the projects of other groups. The Water Rockets teacher reflected that in comparison to traditional Science lessons, â€Å"there was more chance for students to ask questions as things are now less predictable† as in most real world situations. The post-course survey included an item which required students to state whether â€Å"Science ALIVE! lessons have made them more aware of the relevance of Science in their lives†. Table 3 shows the percentage of students who â€Å"agreed† or â€Å"strongly agreed† with the statement. Table 3: Percentage of students who indicated that the programme had made them more aware of the relevance of Science in their lives Module Aroma Chemistry Biodiversity Life Science Water Rockets % Agree 73.5 47.2 64.1 73.0 % Strongly Agree 17.7 50.0 23.1 10.8 % (Agree + Strongly Agree) 91.2 97.2 87.2 83.8 The results in Table 3 show a very high concurrence with the statement for all modules. This is consistent with the programme objective of enhancing the relevance of Science in students’ lives. Students’ journals were analysed for indications of the relevance of Science in three areas: personal, professional and social. A frequency count of the responses showed 82% for personal relevance, 24% for professional relevance and 65% for social relevance. This revealed that students perceived the relevance of Science as mostly related to their personal lives. Only a handful of students could relate the relevance to their future career prospects. Further probing into students’ definition of personal relevance showed an extensive range of interpretation depending on the modules taken. Enhancing one’s quality of life is frequently mentioned in terms of personal relaxation and cure for illnesses. Students from the Aroma Chemistry module stated that they â€Å"could use essential oils to calm a person if he feels nervous† (Student S2). Life Science students surfaced the use of medicines when they fall sick and the growing of genetically modified food (GMF) for convenience (Student S15). Students also stated the importance of process skills in their lives, such as questioning the reliability of information sources. The majority of students could not appreciate Science as having professional relevance. Those who were able to see career possibilities were students who had gone for field trips, where they were introduced to experts in the related field. They saw the knowledge and skills gained through the programme as relevant to their â€Å"future education and working career† (Student S11). Others used the knowledge gained to better understand the requirements of various jobs. A student stated that she â€Å"could understand how people designing furniture, buildings and other things require this knowledge (of centre of gravity)† (Student S16). Three out of five students could relate Science to social relevance, which included how Science affected interaction between people and the environment. One Biodiversity student wrote: â€Å"This also taught me that in school or at work, we have to depend on one another for a living† (Student S10), while another could â€Å"understand nature better† and learnt not to pollute the environment (Student S7). Life Science students pointed out various applications in social and ethical issues, such as the use of forensic Science by police to solve crime (Student S11), knowledge of DNA in cloning (Student S15), and even checking via blood tests whether a child is biologically conceived or adopted (Student S12). Teachers’ feedback indicated that students were generally able to â€Å"connect Science to reality and †¦ in explaining happenings in their lives† (Teacher T2). These observations were made through students’ group discussions and written journals. Examples quoted by the teachers were mostly related to personal and social relevance. It showed that students had an increased awareness of scientific discovery (e.g. antibiotics, genetics) and technology (e.g. making of soap and sweets) that were directly related to their lives and the lives of those around them. The main catalyst that enhanced their awareness was personal experiences through engaging them in experiments that relate to real life and exposing them to more field trips (e.g. Yakult factory, flavour and fragrance industry, nature reserve). DISCUSSION Key features in Science ALIVE! that have helped students acquire Science process skills include scaffolding, group collaboration and journal writing. Scaffolding guides students in learning new or complex skills. Nelson (2004) pointed out that more scaffolding is required for students to be able to do research independently. To illustrate this, the increase in rating for skills on ‘planning investigations’ and ‘writing of scientific report’ in the Life Science module was attributed to â€Å"a lot of hand-holding† and exemplars provided by the teacher. Scaffolding in the form of specific journal prompts can also be adopted to ensure greater depth in student reflection. Teachers, however, will need to balance between providing students support and allowing them to be independent learners. Group collaboration is deployed extensively in the programme, where students worked in groups of three on projects, laboratory work and group assignments. This concurs with findings of a study conducted by Hofstein et al (2004), where cooperative learning in laboratory work helped students construct knowledge. Hofstein et al argued for more time to be spent on laboratory tasks, so that students could reflect on findings and also discuss with their peers. This would be one way to further improve students’ analytical skills, which they are still lacking. Journal writing in Science ALIVE! proves to be very useful in informing teachers of students’ conceptual understanding, acquisition of skills such as reflecting and questioning, and how students relate Science to their everyday life. It allows teachers to give regular feedback as part of assessment for learning. It is also of considerable value to students as it promotes greater ownership to their learning (Tomkins and Tunnicliffe, 2001). This leads to independent learning and moves students to a higher level of thinking, according to the principle on ‘Experience of learning’ in the Principles of Engaged Learning (MOE, 2005). Science ALIVE! lessons are different from the didactic traditional Science lessons, as they focus largely on the application of Science process skills. Hence there is a need to prepare students for the change, for example, from structured experiments to partially open investigations (Haigh et al, 2005). The need for such preparation was evident in the Biodiversity module as students were surprised to learn that scientific reports were different from other project reports, but they managed to overcome it after a few rounds of re-drafting. After the pilot run of Science ALIVE! programme, the teachers recommended that process skills be explicitly taught first followed by opportunities â€Å"created on purpose† for students to practise the skills. This is consistent with Padilla (1990) who suggested the need to provide students with â€Å"multiple opportunities to work with these skills in different content areas and contexts†. To enhance students’ investigative skills, Haigh et al (2005) proposed that teachers provide ‘refresher’ courses to cue students in the planning and conducting of their investigations .On completion of the investigation, students should be given the opportunity to evaluate their work so as to make it more meaningful. In Aroma Chemistry, students were asked to compare the quality of two batches of soap that they had made from different laboratory sessions and analyse the possible causes for the difference, while Biodiversity students had to reflect on the additiona l learning gained after a second trip to the nature reserve. Besides using appropriate strategies to help students adapt to the shift, it is also crucial to rectify students’ mindset on the importance and relevance of acquiring Science process skills. This is because students will be more motivated if they consider process skills an important object of instruction (Padilla, 1990). Thus teachers need to make explicit the â€Å"why† of teaching process skills (Haigh et al, 2005). The deliberate infusion of relevant Science applications in the curriculum of each module has succeeded in enhancing students’ awareness of the usefulness of Science in everyday life. Personal and social relevance dominated students’ ideas of the relevance of Science, though exposure to related industries and appropriate working environments could further promote an awareness of professional relevance. CONCLUSION Going forward, the Science ALIVE! programme would be refined in the next cycle to enhance students’ acquisition of Science process skills. Successful strategies such as the use of reflection journals, activity-based learning, group collaboration and contextualised learning will continue to be used. There would be more emphasis on the explicit teaching of process skills. In addition, more opportunities would be provided for the application of process skills in the core curriculum. RECOMMENDATION Further research on the Science ALIVE! programme could focus on the process skills which students found more difficult to master. With explicit teaching of these skills in the core curriculum prior to Science ALIVE!, the impact could be investigated. The usefulness of Science process skills acquired through the programme could be studied in terms of its impact on Upper Secondary Science, for example, the sustainability of student motivation in Upper Secondary Science. The findings in these research areas will help to inform the effectiveness of future Science ALIVE! programmes. REFERENCES Beaumont-Walters, Y. (2001). An analysis of high school students’ performance on five integrated Science process skills. Research in Science Technological Education, 19(2), 133-145. Bennett, J. (2001). Science with attitude: the perennial issue of pupils’ responses to Science. School Science Review, 82(300), 59-67. Berry, A., Mulhall, P., Gunstone, R., Loughran, J. (1999). Helping students learn from laboratory work. Australian Science Teachers’ Journal, 45(1), 27-31. Campbell, B., Lubben, F., Dlamini, Z. (2000). Learning Science through contexts: helping pupils make sense of everyday situations. International Journal of Science Education, 22(3), 239-252. Haigh, M., France, B., Forret, M. (2005). Is ‘doing Science’ in New Zealand classrooms an expression of scientific inquiry? International Journal of Science Education, 27(2), 215-226. Hofstein, A., Shore, R., Kipnis, M. (2004). Providing high school chemistry students with opportunities to deve lop learning skills in an inquiry-type laboratory: a Case Study. International Journal of Science Education, 26(1), 47-62. Ministry of Education (2005). A toolkit for engaged teaching and learning. Curriculum Planning and Development Division, Ministry of Education, Singapore. Nelson, T.H. (2004). Helping students make connections. The Science Teacher, 71(3), 32-35. Padilla, M.J. (1990). The Science process skills. Research Matters – to the Science Teacher, No. 9004. Retrieved December 1, 2006 from http://www.narst.org/publications/ research/skill.htm Tomkins, S.P., Tunnicliffe, S.D. (2001). Looking for ideas: observation, interpretation and hypothesis making by 12-year-old pupils undertaking Science investigations. International Journal of Science Education, 23(8), 791-813. Van Aalsvoort, J. (2004a). Logical positivism as a tool to analyse the problem of Chemistry’s lack of relevance in secondary school chemical education. International Journal of Science Education, 26(9), 1151-1168. Van Aalsvoort, J. (2004b). Activity theory as a tool to address the problem of Chemistry’s lack of relevance in secondary school chemical education. International Journal of Science Education, 26(13), 1635-1651. Young, R. M. (1995). Hands-on Science. Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Materials, Inc.