Hi! In the last blog we talked about getting the most out of your postgraduate readings. We discussed the early steps of reading. This involved highlighting points in your module text and making marginal notes to guide you through a re-reading for assignment and exams.
At this time, you need to get involved in post-reading activities. These post-reading strategies should include: (a) thinking about the subject as a whole and (b) making notes notes on your readings. Let's look at the first point, thinking about the subject as a whole.
Followers of this blog will know that I believe that you need to take time to think. Reading is not an exception to this rule. When you think about your module text as a whole, you should start to to form the building blocks of what is known as a hierarchy of critical thinking. This hierarchy works something like this in terms of information in your readings.
First: you gather
1. Knowledge. You gather the details that make up the bits of information in a particular module text, for example a module text/booklet on "Management, People and Organizations".
Next, you begin to build:
2.Comprehension. You build an understanding of the pieces of knowledge in your module text on "Management, People and Organizations." You start to see how these pieces of information relate to one another.
Now, you can use your understanding to create:
3. Application. You can use the information in your module text to create a new understanding of real-life examples. In fact, these examples can be drawn from your own practical experience, can be gleaned from reading journal articles on other organizations, can be seen in case studies or can be simulated from a combination of all three.
At this step, you need show that you can analyse or explain these relationships:
4. Analysis. After you see how the information applies to real-life situations, you must be able to explain or analyse how the information from the text explains what we see happening in real-life, journal articles or case studies. It is not enough to merely apply an idea, an explanation is a required step in forming understanding from either a module text.
It is not enough to read a text in isolation from other ideas from the same subject. In your course module in "Management, People and Organizations", you see the inter-related nature of other subjects in the both the Social Sciences and Business Theory. So, at this step you fit together concepts:
5. Synthesis. As you fit together ideas, they form a new understanding of the course module. This allows you to see the ideas within the module in a larger context, a context which relates to the Social Sciences as a whole and strengthens your idea of the place of any theory in this context.
At the end of a reading, you should be able to form:
6. An Evaluation. When you form an evaluation of the ideas you have learned in your module text in "Management, People and Organizations", you can see the strengthens and weaknesses of different theories, how they interplay with other ideas, their relevance to the subject as a whole, their importance to the field and their continuing place in studying this subject.
This critical method of approaching reading forces the reader to make links. Links between:
1. Basic knowledge and concepts. (Comprehension)
2. Concepts or theory and real life situations or simulations. (Application)
3. Applications and explanations of how theories explain real-life situations or simulations. (Analysis)
4. New ideas and older ideas. (Synthesis)
5. How synthesis leads us to evaluate the new information (Evaluation)
This hierarchy of knowledge that I have used to explain thinking within the reading process is also known as "Bloom's Taxonomy". The important thing the reader must understand is how they will use all of these steps in thinking about their module texts. Once you understand your module texts in this way it will be easier to apply the same hierarchy of knowledge to any other learning process such as a course assignment, an exam or even your dissertation.
You can also write notes about your course materials. I would suggest the Cornell note-taking approach. For now, I'm going to refer you to "The Learning Box", an online resource, to describe this approach to note-taking here. I plan to do a blog on writing course notes in the next few months, but the graphic representation of how to write notes at Toolbox will help you for now:
http://coe.jmu.edu/learningtoolbox/cornellnotes.html
Remember that reading is an active process, a process that forces you to make connections within your subject and with other previous knowledge. Testing has shown that students recall information better if they can relate it to previous learning and don't see their subject/course material in isolation to other learned materials. Reading, as I have shown it, is hard work. It takes time and should not be postponed for a brief review before an exam or an assignment. This is particularly true of long and complex texts. If you have taken the time to organize and understand the course module materials ahead of time, you will have fewer nasty surprises later on in the programme. This is the challenge of your graduate programme. Good reading.
KB
Monday, February 1, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Getting the Most Out of Reading for Classes: Part 1
Students ask me frequently about reading. The first question is, how do I get through all this material when my time is limited?
There is no easy answer to this question. As I mentioned in my last blog, when I was in graduate school there was one particular course/module which took 1-2 days of preparation every week, and most of that time was spent reading. That is a common experience for graduate students. It is important to remember that the MBA or MSc at University of Leicester is a graduate degree; for a graduate degree students are expected to read complex theoretical materials in their field. These types of readings take time. Moreover, the comprehensive exams require that all students have a breadth of knowledge that is only possible if you read the module texts more than once.
However, it is possible to see that module texts can be easier if the student considers a few of the following pointers:
1. Read actively using your mind to see the organization of the chapters
2. Engage with any and all visual aids and charts in the module texts
3. Read thematically. Try to see the module materials/texts as an interlocking whole guided by the consciousness of the writer.
4. Use coloured highlighter markers to distinguish a major idea from its component parts. For example, mark all the major concepts in blue and the the steps or sub-categories in pink.
5. Do not hesitate to annotate or summarize in the margins of your module texts or use sticky notes as a guide when you return to the text a second time.
Using these strategies to read your module texts will, in the long run, make the time you spend engaging with the text more effective. This is the secret to many steps of learning. If you spend the time up front learning and organizing materials, the time spent later is less burdensome and more effective. Reading thematically assists the reader to look for main ideas and distinguish them from minor points. This is a crucial aid to better understanding when one approaches thick and complex module texts that must be digested wholesale to complete the module.
Next week, we will discuss post-reading strategies and how they can enhance learning to help create greater understanding of the module and improve exam grades.
KB
There is no easy answer to this question. As I mentioned in my last blog, when I was in graduate school there was one particular course/module which took 1-2 days of preparation every week, and most of that time was spent reading. That is a common experience for graduate students. It is important to remember that the MBA or MSc at University of Leicester is a graduate degree; for a graduate degree students are expected to read complex theoretical materials in their field. These types of readings take time. Moreover, the comprehensive exams require that all students have a breadth of knowledge that is only possible if you read the module texts more than once.
However, it is possible to see that module texts can be easier if the student considers a few of the following pointers:
1. Read actively using your mind to see the organization of the chapters
2. Engage with any and all visual aids and charts in the module texts
3. Read thematically. Try to see the module materials/texts as an interlocking whole guided by the consciousness of the writer.
4. Use coloured highlighter markers to distinguish a major idea from its component parts. For example, mark all the major concepts in blue and the the steps or sub-categories in pink.
5. Do not hesitate to annotate or summarize in the margins of your module texts or use sticky notes as a guide when you return to the text a second time.
Using these strategies to read your module texts will, in the long run, make the time you spend engaging with the text more effective. This is the secret to many steps of learning. If you spend the time up front learning and organizing materials, the time spent later is less burdensome and more effective. Reading thematically assists the reader to look for main ideas and distinguish them from minor points. This is a crucial aid to better understanding when one approaches thick and complex module texts that must be digested wholesale to complete the module.
Next week, we will discuss post-reading strategies and how they can enhance learning to help create greater understanding of the module and improve exam grades.
KB
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Getting Down to Basics in the New Year: You are not alone
Hi, this the first blog of the New Year. This year I'm going to try to make shorter, more frequent blog posts. (Not counting this one.) We covered a lot of the basics in the first year of this blog in a lot of long blogs. Yes, I know, but it was necessary! This year I want to keep you, my readers, working on your MBA/MSc programmes at the University of Leicester and get you through your programmes and to your intended goal - the MBA/MSc in your waiting hands. In fact, I want to say here and now that I'm trying to get participation from any student reading this blog. Not simply your stories of struggle with this programme but your accounts of final success as well.
In the past year, I have encountered several students who felt that they were alone in their struggles with this programme. These students were sure that all the other students could do their assignments, exams and dissertation better, faster and more easily than they could. A few older students, say those of you in your mid-40's, were convinced the bulk of the students were all younger and not facing difficulties with the online nature of the programme or keeping up with their readings. Most of these students were surprised when I told them the students in Leicester's MBA and MSc programmes covered the complete spectrum of ages from their 20's to their 50's and that struggling with readings, assignments and/or the final dissertation was common problem. However, it was not a insurmountable one! After all, lots of students have jobs, personal lives and other commitments on top of the programme. No matter what their age or background, students still succeed in making it through the assignments, the exams and the dissertation and they graduate. Struggling with a deadline, a mark, a hidden meaning in an assignment or a dissertation is supposed to be part of a process that leads to a degree at the end of the road. It was certainly part of my experience in getting my last degree in English Literature & Creative Writing.
I finished my MA in English Literature & Creative Writing only 5 years ago when I turned 50. It was my second graduate degree. There were several times when I felt like quitting. It took me 7 years to complete this degree while working part-time teaching at a university, doing the occasional stint of research. I already had BA's in Education & English. Practically, I'd done a Master of Library Science many years earlier but never faced the challenge of a dissertation. I'd dreamt of having a graduate degree in English Literature or better yet in Creative Writing from the time I was twenty years old. I had no idea how long a road it would be to get this degree.
To be truthful, the course work was more or less doable. Sometimes, I had to write papers or take modules (courses) I didn't like because I had a heavy teaching load from September to January when all the best modules (courses) seemed to be offered. So, sometimes I was less than thrilled with the second term "electives". Other modules were just hard work. I had to prep for one module (course) assignment for two days and I prepared all my questions ahead of time so I would get the most out of every seminar. I had to re-learn the process of essay writing. I had successes and some partial successes, but I got through the work with good grades and passed an additional module in French (which was very difficult) that was a department requirement.
I could've worked with a very willing professor on a dissertation on modern literature but I decided to make my life hard. I decided to write about Henry James and was sent to work with a retired "senior scholar". This experience was mixed. The senior scholar was a nice man and very skilled in academic writing. I got through the dissertation proposal and the first part of the dissertation in two grueling years. Then, not being one to take the easy road, I decided that I wanted to write a creative dissertation instead of the usual MA in English Literature. This meant I had to throw out all of hard work I'd done on my dissertation and shop around for a new dissertation tutor, one who could work in Creative Writing. My best friend's husband, who was a retired university professor, assured me that I was crazy.
I had written a number of fictional stories but I really didn't have an extensive background in creative writing, at least not through the traditional route of "school courses". When and where I first went to university, there were no courses in Creative Writing. After several false starts, I found an advisor who agreed to supervise my dissertation but who had doubts about a forty-something student with no recognizable background in Creative Writing getting through the process.
There were a lot of bumps on this road. After many tries, my dissertation proposal was finally done and accepted at the last possible month. It was my second proposal. I also moved to England with my partner for the year I wrote the dissertation. As I worked, my advisor cut huge swathes of material out of my creative dissertation, which was supposed to be a novella not a novel. Att the end she gave me two weeks to revise the dissertation before hitting a final deadline. There were no extensions. With great difficulty, I did revise the whole thing in two weeks and submitted it. She finally booked my defense - which I passed with three small revisions.
I am now the proud possessor of an MA in English Literature and Creative Writing. It means more to me than any other piece of paper I possess. Now, I'm struggling as I write my first novel. (I'll let you know how that goes.) That, of course, isn't the point. The point is that I wouldn't be here at all if I hadn't decided that my dream was more important than the opinion of others or if I wasn't willing to work past huge obstacles and figure out how I was going to make it to the next stage of the process. A dream is worth it, isn't it?
In the next year, I want MBA/MSc distance students to reach out more. Sometimes, complex questions are posted here. I want students with complex problems to write me at:
ulsmdltutor@le.ac.uk
I want also to hear about stories of success on this blog. Success stories are a way we can reinforce learning. Even if you think you are struggling alone, I want to assure you that this isn't true. Learning sometimes means struggle but it doesn't mean defeat. I learned more from the process of my MA than I thought possible in terms of my thinking, my writing and my persistance. So can you. Let's have a great year together.
KB
In the past year, I have encountered several students who felt that they were alone in their struggles with this programme. These students were sure that all the other students could do their assignments, exams and dissertation better, faster and more easily than they could. A few older students, say those of you in your mid-40's, were convinced the bulk of the students were all younger and not facing difficulties with the online nature of the programme or keeping up with their readings. Most of these students were surprised when I told them the students in Leicester's MBA and MSc programmes covered the complete spectrum of ages from their 20's to their 50's and that struggling with readings, assignments and/or the final dissertation was common problem. However, it was not a insurmountable one! After all, lots of students have jobs, personal lives and other commitments on top of the programme. No matter what their age or background, students still succeed in making it through the assignments, the exams and the dissertation and they graduate. Struggling with a deadline, a mark, a hidden meaning in an assignment or a dissertation is supposed to be part of a process that leads to a degree at the end of the road. It was certainly part of my experience in getting my last degree in English Literature & Creative Writing.
I finished my MA in English Literature & Creative Writing only 5 years ago when I turned 50. It was my second graduate degree. There were several times when I felt like quitting. It took me 7 years to complete this degree while working part-time teaching at a university, doing the occasional stint of research. I already had BA's in Education & English. Practically, I'd done a Master of Library Science many years earlier but never faced the challenge of a dissertation. I'd dreamt of having a graduate degree in English Literature or better yet in Creative Writing from the time I was twenty years old. I had no idea how long a road it would be to get this degree.
To be truthful, the course work was more or less doable. Sometimes, I had to write papers or take modules (courses) I didn't like because I had a heavy teaching load from September to January when all the best modules (courses) seemed to be offered. So, sometimes I was less than thrilled with the second term "electives". Other modules were just hard work. I had to prep for one module (course) assignment for two days and I prepared all my questions ahead of time so I would get the most out of every seminar. I had to re-learn the process of essay writing. I had successes and some partial successes, but I got through the work with good grades and passed an additional module in French (which was very difficult) that was a department requirement.
I could've worked with a very willing professor on a dissertation on modern literature but I decided to make my life hard. I decided to write about Henry James and was sent to work with a retired "senior scholar". This experience was mixed. The senior scholar was a nice man and very skilled in academic writing. I got through the dissertation proposal and the first part of the dissertation in two grueling years. Then, not being one to take the easy road, I decided that I wanted to write a creative dissertation instead of the usual MA in English Literature. This meant I had to throw out all of hard work I'd done on my dissertation and shop around for a new dissertation tutor, one who could work in Creative Writing. My best friend's husband, who was a retired university professor, assured me that I was crazy.
I had written a number of fictional stories but I really didn't have an extensive background in creative writing, at least not through the traditional route of "school courses". When and where I first went to university, there were no courses in Creative Writing. After several false starts, I found an advisor who agreed to supervise my dissertation but who had doubts about a forty-something student with no recognizable background in Creative Writing getting through the process.
There were a lot of bumps on this road. After many tries, my dissertation proposal was finally done and accepted at the last possible month. It was my second proposal. I also moved to England with my partner for the year I wrote the dissertation. As I worked, my advisor cut huge swathes of material out of my creative dissertation, which was supposed to be a novella not a novel. Att the end she gave me two weeks to revise the dissertation before hitting a final deadline. There were no extensions. With great difficulty, I did revise the whole thing in two weeks and submitted it. She finally booked my defense - which I passed with three small revisions.
I am now the proud possessor of an MA in English Literature and Creative Writing. It means more to me than any other piece of paper I possess. Now, I'm struggling as I write my first novel. (I'll let you know how that goes.) That, of course, isn't the point. The point is that I wouldn't be here at all if I hadn't decided that my dream was more important than the opinion of others or if I wasn't willing to work past huge obstacles and figure out how I was going to make it to the next stage of the process. A dream is worth it, isn't it?
In the next year, I want MBA/MSc distance students to reach out more. Sometimes, complex questions are posted here. I want students with complex problems to write me at:
ulsmdltutor@le.ac.uk
I want also to hear about stories of success on this blog. Success stories are a way we can reinforce learning. Even if you think you are struggling alone, I want to assure you that this isn't true. Learning sometimes means struggle but it doesn't mean defeat. I learned more from the process of my MA than I thought possible in terms of my thinking, my writing and my persistance. So can you. Let's have a great year together.
KB
Monday, December 21, 2009
Happy Holidays: A Seasonal Break
It's time for the Seasonal Break, a pause before we think about our accomplishments this year and what we want to achieve next year.
Many students who read this blog have finished their journey to the MBA or MSc. Others are still struggling through the assignments, the exams and of course the dissertation. I see students slow down during this season every year. Students who intended to phone me put it off until January. Others put that assignment they were struggling with in the drawer until the holiday season is over.
This is, for me, a time for a yearly break, a reminder that life is about many more things than simply our jobs. It is a pause before going on to the new, big project. We can, when we pause and reflect, often make better choices about what we are going to do in the New Year. In the busyness of the year, we often forget to take this time to pause and reflect on our lives, and our life directions. Sometimes, dreams over the past year have seemed difficult. Perhaps, they have seemed unreachable but during this holiday season it is surely the time to believe that perhaps dreams might just come true.
For many students, the MBA is their dream. Sometimes, the work that is required to achieve this dream can turn many students back. Many fear that they are unworthy, that they do not have the adequate qualifications or stamina to get this diploma. At this holiday season, it is time to see that no one gets this qualification at this or any other good university without struggle and hard work. Whether you have just returned to school after a long absence or whether you are fresh from your BA, this qualification will not fall into your lap without hard work. At this holiday season, we can give ourselves the gift of believing that we can do it, that dreams can come true.
I have been privileged to work with many struggling students, many students who have gone on to get their degrees. For those you still struggling, please accept my seasonal wish. For those of you who read this blog regularly, accept my congratulations that you are still working toward your goal. And for everybody, have a happy holiday.
KB
Many students who read this blog have finished their journey to the MBA or MSc. Others are still struggling through the assignments, the exams and of course the dissertation. I see students slow down during this season every year. Students who intended to phone me put it off until January. Others put that assignment they were struggling with in the drawer until the holiday season is over.
This is, for me, a time for a yearly break, a reminder that life is about many more things than simply our jobs. It is a pause before going on to the new, big project. We can, when we pause and reflect, often make better choices about what we are going to do in the New Year. In the busyness of the year, we often forget to take this time to pause and reflect on our lives, and our life directions. Sometimes, dreams over the past year have seemed difficult. Perhaps, they have seemed unreachable but during this holiday season it is surely the time to believe that perhaps dreams might just come true.
For many students, the MBA is their dream. Sometimes, the work that is required to achieve this dream can turn many students back. Many fear that they are unworthy, that they do not have the adequate qualifications or stamina to get this diploma. At this holiday season, it is time to see that no one gets this qualification at this or any other good university without struggle and hard work. Whether you have just returned to school after a long absence or whether you are fresh from your BA, this qualification will not fall into your lap without hard work. At this holiday season, we can give ourselves the gift of believing that we can do it, that dreams can come true.
I have been privileged to work with many struggling students, many students who have gone on to get their degrees. For those you still struggling, please accept my seasonal wish. For those of you who read this blog regularly, accept my congratulations that you are still working toward your goal. And for everybody, have a happy holiday.
KB
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Important Words to Help Understand Questions
Today, in my second to last post before Christmas, I would like to go over some words that students see in their assignments or exam questions. Sometimes, we never examine what an instructor/tutor/professor means when they use these simple questions in assignments or exams. Many of us believe we understand what these words mean, but actually don't know precisely what is meant by these words. So, students can write around the question, hoping that they will hit the target somewhere in this process. Yet, these are common words that mean something quite specific in the context of assignment questions.
Let's start with "describe or outline." For example, a question that tells you: "to describe or outline the steps of problem-solving." To begin with, to know things we must name them. However, that is not enough, we must be able to apply our knowledge in order to offer explanations of the terms we use.
Thus, when we are asked to "to describe or outline the steps of problem-solving" or in fact anything, the tutor is being quite specific about what we must do. We need to name the steps, then we need to explain what they are, then we can give brief examples of these steps. So, we have used the steps of critical thinking by using knowledge, understanding and application. The Hierarchy of Knowledge, developed by Bloom, is specific about these steps and one of the objectives of the School of Management at the University of Leicester is to use critical thinking.
Objective, a word I used above, is an important word in learning. Teaching by objectives ensures that tutors have achievable, measurable goals. The definition of "objective" in the Oxford Concise Dictionary (10 ed. revised, 2002) defines "objective" (where objective is a noun) as: 1. a goal or aim. It also tells us that objective results are "2. Not dependent on the mind, actual". This tells us that we are looking for concrete facts, real data that illustrates our point. Thus, let's say a question asks: "Use any business or corporation to analyse whether its environmental policies reflect the objectives of Kyoto Protocol (1997)". Objective in this sentence is a noun, thus you will be looking for the aims or goals of the environmental policies of the company you are going to discuss. You will need to know (a) the intended results or objectives of the environmental policy of a specific business and (b) the intended results or objectives of the Kyoto Protocol. Both will require research on the environmental policies of a business you work at or one that you research through the databases at University of Leicester.
Your own business may not, in fact, be suitable if it really has no environmental impact and its policies will not provide a lively discussion of the Kyoto Protocol. To understand this, first you must be aware of the intended results, aim or goals of the Kyoto Protocol. Then you can judge what kind of business you should pick to make your points clearly. You need to be specific in showing how the Kyoto Protocol influences the business you are discussing.
Influence is an important word in many assignment questions. In the question above, we could reframe the question to ask the following question: "Use any business or corporation to illustrate how the Kyoto Protocol (1997) has influenced their environmental policy." This question has been very specific: the business or corporation you choose to discuss must directly have been influenced by the Kyoto Protocol. This influence must be shown to be direct. Thus, you must see direct and clear initiatives that the business has undertaken that are directly mentioned by the Kyoto Protocol. You must also take care to make sure that any environmental initiatives, such as increasingly lower emissions on the part of, for example, a Paper Company, a Metals Refining Company or a Chemical Company (see, for example, Abitibi (paper), Sherritt (nickel refining), or Dow Chemical) happened as a result of and after the Kyoto Protocol. If the business has stated their intention to use the Protocol and change their environmental policies, this will make that company a good company to discuss in your assignment.
Taking this question a step further, the question might also ask you to "analyse their environmental policies" or "evaluate" them. In the former example, you must demonstrate a thorough knowledge of environmental policies in a particular company and must explain or analyse how these policies and the Kyoto protocol initiatives are linked. This is where students often make crucial errors. They write general knowledge about the Kyoto protocol instead of actually examining the details of environmental policies in a specific business. The question is, in fact, quite specific. If you need to analyse or evaluate the environmental policies of a specific business, you must know how effective or ineffective they are.
You should be aware if the company has been sued or cited for an environmental emissions or some other problem such as dumping. You will only know about this by good research, research that examines what a company says (for example in their yearly corporate reports) versus what a company actually does (for example newspaper articles, press releases or other public documentation). They may not write about environmental problems in corporate reports but a thorough search on the databases at University of Leicester will uncover the realities of the situation. These facts will fuel the analysis or the evaluation that you are going to make in your assignment. Evaluation and analysis imply that you should be weigh factors out in a particular field. This will be the same whether you are discussing a company's environmental policy or its corporate culture.
The tutor wants you to use evidence, that is data about a particular company, to show or demonstrate what this company's environmental record actually is and demonstrate its policies in regard to the environment. The same thing would hold true if the question was, for example, "Using Porter's five forces model, analyse the business strategy of a company of your choice." You should use a company which will prove to be a good example of business strategy and an good demonstration of Porter's five forces, not simply a company that you know. A dynamic, interesting discussion that shows how the five forces work with excellent examples using relevant evidence to demonstrate the theory is what the tutor wants to see.
When you approach an assignment question, you shouldn't, as I pointed out above, think of this as a good opportunity to discuss the copmany you work in currently. Some students think this will make doing the assignment easier. As I pointed out above, in fact if your copmany really has no environmental impact then you should do research and find a good example of the question that has been posed. Tutors mark many assignments. Providing lively debate, interesting examples and thought provoking evaluations, make your assignment stand out. Bold choices tend to provide better assignments.
KB
Let's start with "describe or outline." For example, a question that tells you: "to describe or outline the steps of problem-solving." To begin with, to know things we must name them. However, that is not enough, we must be able to apply our knowledge in order to offer explanations of the terms we use.
Thus, when we are asked to "to describe or outline the steps of problem-solving" or in fact anything, the tutor is being quite specific about what we must do. We need to name the steps, then we need to explain what they are, then we can give brief examples of these steps. So, we have used the steps of critical thinking by using knowledge, understanding and application. The Hierarchy of Knowledge, developed by Bloom, is specific about these steps and one of the objectives of the School of Management at the University of Leicester is to use critical thinking.
Objective, a word I used above, is an important word in learning. Teaching by objectives ensures that tutors have achievable, measurable goals. The definition of "objective" in the Oxford Concise Dictionary (10 ed. revised, 2002) defines "objective" (where objective is a noun) as: 1. a goal or aim. It also tells us that objective results are "2. Not dependent on the mind, actual". This tells us that we are looking for concrete facts, real data that illustrates our point. Thus, let's say a question asks: "Use any business or corporation to analyse whether its environmental policies reflect the objectives of Kyoto Protocol (1997)". Objective in this sentence is a noun, thus you will be looking for the aims or goals of the environmental policies of the company you are going to discuss. You will need to know (a) the intended results or objectives of the environmental policy of a specific business and (b) the intended results or objectives of the Kyoto Protocol. Both will require research on the environmental policies of a business you work at or one that you research through the databases at University of Leicester.
Your own business may not, in fact, be suitable if it really has no environmental impact and its policies will not provide a lively discussion of the Kyoto Protocol. To understand this, first you must be aware of the intended results, aim or goals of the Kyoto Protocol. Then you can judge what kind of business you should pick to make your points clearly. You need to be specific in showing how the Kyoto Protocol influences the business you are discussing.
Influence is an important word in many assignment questions. In the question above, we could reframe the question to ask the following question: "Use any business or corporation to illustrate how the Kyoto Protocol (1997) has influenced their environmental policy." This question has been very specific: the business or corporation you choose to discuss must directly have been influenced by the Kyoto Protocol. This influence must be shown to be direct. Thus, you must see direct and clear initiatives that the business has undertaken that are directly mentioned by the Kyoto Protocol. You must also take care to make sure that any environmental initiatives, such as increasingly lower emissions on the part of, for example, a Paper Company, a Metals Refining Company or a Chemical Company (see, for example, Abitibi (paper), Sherritt (nickel refining), or Dow Chemical) happened as a result of and after the Kyoto Protocol. If the business has stated their intention to use the Protocol and change their environmental policies, this will make that company a good company to discuss in your assignment.
Taking this question a step further, the question might also ask you to "analyse their environmental policies" or "evaluate" them. In the former example, you must demonstrate a thorough knowledge of environmental policies in a particular company and must explain or analyse how these policies and the Kyoto protocol initiatives are linked. This is where students often make crucial errors. They write general knowledge about the Kyoto protocol instead of actually examining the details of environmental policies in a specific business. The question is, in fact, quite specific. If you need to analyse or evaluate the environmental policies of a specific business, you must know how effective or ineffective they are.
You should be aware if the company has been sued or cited for an environmental emissions or some other problem such as dumping. You will only know about this by good research, research that examines what a company says (for example in their yearly corporate reports) versus what a company actually does (for example newspaper articles, press releases or other public documentation). They may not write about environmental problems in corporate reports but a thorough search on the databases at University of Leicester will uncover the realities of the situation. These facts will fuel the analysis or the evaluation that you are going to make in your assignment. Evaluation and analysis imply that you should be weigh factors out in a particular field. This will be the same whether you are discussing a company's environmental policy or its corporate culture.
The tutor wants you to use evidence, that is data about a particular company, to show or demonstrate what this company's environmental record actually is and demonstrate its policies in regard to the environment. The same thing would hold true if the question was, for example, "Using Porter's five forces model, analyse the business strategy of a company of your choice." You should use a company which will prove to be a good example of business strategy and an good demonstration of Porter's five forces, not simply a company that you know. A dynamic, interesting discussion that shows how the five forces work with excellent examples using relevant evidence to demonstrate the theory is what the tutor wants to see.
When you approach an assignment question, you shouldn't, as I pointed out above, think of this as a good opportunity to discuss the copmany you work in currently. Some students think this will make doing the assignment easier. As I pointed out above, in fact if your copmany really has no environmental impact then you should do research and find a good example of the question that has been posed. Tutors mark many assignments. Providing lively debate, interesting examples and thought provoking evaluations, make your assignment stand out. Bold choices tend to provide better assignments.
KB
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Cyber Road to Hell : The Scholastic Road to Wisdom
"The road to hell is paved with good intentions." We have all heard this statement, a statement which is loosely attributed to Samuel Johnson by his emanuensis, Boswell. We have also heard that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Why is this and what does this have to do with our MBA/MSc assignments?
The Cyber Highway is studded with little bits of knowledge. Are these gems, treasures or are they junk? If you are writing a paper on organizational behaviour and culture, for example, a simple search on Google, will find the University of San Francisco and a number of articles at their website at:
http://cps.usfca.edu/academics/obl/obresources.htm
There is an article on Maslow here and the application of his Hierarchy of Needs and another article on Elton Mayo. None of them have the kind of source materials you will need for an academic paper at the MBA level. This is why these aren't good places to get our thinking processes started for an assignment on organizational behaviour.
Notice that there aren't any sources given for most of this information although it comes from a university. A broad strokes version of Martin Luther and the work ethic is given on a page entitled "Ageless Search for Better Ways." It says: "With the Reformation, the Protestant 'work ethic' emerged based on Luther's glorification of work theory. Calvinism brought further consolidation to this principle and with it the virtues of thrift, frugality and the honorable acquisition of wealth." Sweeping statements - but where are the sources to back up these statements? All of this may be true but the information to back it up isn't here. You would need good resources on Calvinism, the reformation and the tie between religion and the 'work ethic'.
Obviously, University of San Francisco is reaching out to find potential students and attract them to their programme in business. This is good business practice but these pages are not intended to be scholarly material. You will find plenty of other similar sources on the internet. They look good but they aren't meant for use in scholarly papers. Students at institutions such as University of San Francisco, must also look for sources for their papers, not at their university's popular website, but in the books, journals, databases and other literature that is the scholastic backbone of the subject. There is no easy way out.
Many students begin their assignments by first surfing the web. As many of my regular blog readers know, this is the wrong way to scholastic achievement. What students should do is begin their work with a highlighter in hand, re-reading the module tutor's phrasing in the question to consider important words in the question such as analyze, apply or evaluate. These words signal what the module tutor is actually looking for in this assignment. Module textbooks and workbooks are a good second place to look to ensure you understand what all the words in the assignment actually mean. If you have trouble with meanings, you should invest in a good comprehensive Oxford Dictionary. Additionally, the library at Leicester has several copies of the Handbook of Organizational Studies by Stewart Clegg (pub. Sage) for more unfamiliar terminology in the field. Handbooks often have fuller discussions of terms, such as 'Organizational Culture' or 'Maslow', and these are sources you can cite in any paper. You can interlibrary loan materials from books such as this handbook, through the library. The business librarian, Andrew Dunn, may assist you if you need any help in this regard.
Next time we will talk about understand the meanings of some key words in assignment questions.
KB
The Cyber Highway is studded with little bits of knowledge. Are these gems, treasures or are they junk? If you are writing a paper on organizational behaviour and culture, for example, a simple search on Google, will find the University of San Francisco and a number of articles at their website at:
http://cps.usfca.edu/academics/obl/obresources.htm
There is an article on Maslow here and the application of his Hierarchy of Needs and another article on Elton Mayo. None of them have the kind of source materials you will need for an academic paper at the MBA level. This is why these aren't good places to get our thinking processes started for an assignment on organizational behaviour.
Notice that there aren't any sources given for most of this information although it comes from a university. A broad strokes version of Martin Luther and the work ethic is given on a page entitled "Ageless Search for Better Ways." It says: "With the Reformation, the Protestant 'work ethic' emerged based on Luther's glorification of work theory. Calvinism brought further consolidation to this principle and with it the virtues of thrift, frugality and the honorable acquisition of wealth." Sweeping statements - but where are the sources to back up these statements? All of this may be true but the information to back it up isn't here. You would need good resources on Calvinism, the reformation and the tie between religion and the 'work ethic'.
Obviously, University of San Francisco is reaching out to find potential students and attract them to their programme in business. This is good business practice but these pages are not intended to be scholarly material. You will find plenty of other similar sources on the internet. They look good but they aren't meant for use in scholarly papers. Students at institutions such as University of San Francisco, must also look for sources for their papers, not at their university's popular website, but in the books, journals, databases and other literature that is the scholastic backbone of the subject. There is no easy way out.
Many students begin their assignments by first surfing the web. As many of my regular blog readers know, this is the wrong way to scholastic achievement. What students should do is begin their work with a highlighter in hand, re-reading the module tutor's phrasing in the question to consider important words in the question such as analyze, apply or evaluate. These words signal what the module tutor is actually looking for in this assignment. Module textbooks and workbooks are a good second place to look to ensure you understand what all the words in the assignment actually mean. If you have trouble with meanings, you should invest in a good comprehensive Oxford Dictionary. Additionally, the library at Leicester has several copies of the Handbook of Organizational Studies by Stewart Clegg (pub. Sage) for more unfamiliar terminology in the field. Handbooks often have fuller discussions of terms, such as 'Organizational Culture' or 'Maslow', and these are sources you can cite in any paper. You can interlibrary loan materials from books such as this handbook, through the library. The business librarian, Andrew Dunn, may assist you if you need any help in this regard.
Next time we will talk about understand the meanings of some key words in assignment questions.
KB
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Reference Lists
Okay, last time we discussed organizing assignments. This week's post is about making references in your assignments, that is, using Harvard style which is the accepted style at University of Leicester.
There are two resources every student should know:
1. http://www.le.ac.uk/li/research/refworks.html
This is the page for Refworks, a bibliographic database available to all students at the University of Leicester. It is free. You simply create an account and log in from your computer. It will allow you to create different bibliographies for different assignments. It will also house all this information on the server at University of Leicester. When you make a bibliography, it will print out the information in the correct format and you can add it to your paper.
2. http://www.le.ac.uk/li/sources/subject3/harvard.html
This is a page at the University of Leicester showing you how to do citations using Harvard. You will still need to use this source for in-body citations in your assignments. What this means is that you need to follow Harvard style when you quote a source within a paper or use a paraphrase of another author's words. This source will show you how to handle a quotation of less than 20 words or one that is greater. The instructions should be followed to the letter. That is, quotations of more than 20 words in Harvard are treated like this according to the library page above:
There are two resources every student should know:
1. http://www.le.ac.uk/li/research/refworks.html
This is the page for Refworks, a bibliographic database available to all students at the University of Leicester. It is free. You simply create an account and log in from your computer. It will allow you to create different bibliographies for different assignments. It will also house all this information on the server at University of Leicester. When you make a bibliography, it will print out the information in the correct format and you can add it to your paper.
2. http://www.le.ac.uk/li/sources/subject3/harvard.html
This is a page at the University of Leicester showing you how to do citations using Harvard. You will still need to use this source for in-body citations in your assignments. What this means is that you need to follow Harvard style when you quote a source within a paper or use a paraphrase of another author's words. This source will show you how to handle a quotation of less than 20 words or one that is greater. The instructions should be followed to the letter. That is, quotations of more than 20 words in Harvard are treated like this according to the library page above:
Long quotations: more than 20-25 words. It is suggested that with long quotations you should leave a line's space above and below the quote, indent it from the left, and enclosing it in quotation marks.
"Most people would prefer to die in their own home and even when people die in a hospital or hospice most of their care will take place in their own homes with the help and unpaid work of their close family and friends ( lay carers). People who die at home will normally do so as the result of a long-term illness, often marked by persistent and distressing symptoms." (Taylor and Field 1997:17)
Note: Harvard is different from MLA or APA in several important ways. In the long quote above, the placement of the quotation marks is essential as is the spacing. Normally, of course, the document would be in Times New Roman 12 pt.The citation below in Harvard:
Gibaldi, J. 1995. MLA Handbook for writers of research papers. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.
would be different in that in APA round brackets are used around dates:
Gibaldi, J. (1995). MLA Handbook for writers of research papers. New York: The Modern Language Association of America.
while in MLA the date is at the end:
Gibaldi, J. MLA Handbook for writers of research papers. New York: The Modern Language Association of America, 1995.
I strongly recommend that students use Refworks for their bibliographies. I also tell students not to use Ibid. in their bibliographies. While it is accepted usage in APA style, Harvard is not APA. The placement of periods, commas, capitals and spaces is important. Do not vary in any regard from the accepted format. I am always open to questions about these issues.
KB
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