It is time to determine how to make your product or service available to the consumer. Using your readings and at least one article (from Academic Search Complete, Business Source Complete and/or ProQuest Central), develop a distribution system.

Channel Levels
Select either direct versus indirect distribution by writing about the pros and cons of both methods. (Research support is required)

Needs of Target Market
Analyze your target market’s needs. Explain what you know about your target market and what they want from a channel of distribution. (Research support is required)

Digital Commerce
Is your product/service conducive to digital distribution? You may wish to research a competitive product or service to see if it has a strong digital presence. Or you can engage in general research about going digital. (Research support is required.)
Since you are engaging in research, be sure to cite and reference the sources in APA format. The paper should be written in third person.

References
• Marketing Research and Intelligence Association
• The importance of studying consumer behavior
Chapters in Introducing Marketing:
3. Marketing research: An aid to decision making
4. Understanding buyer behavior
10. Channel concepts: Distributing the product

Disorders of the Veins and Arteries

Advanced practice nurses often treat patients with vein and artery disorders such as chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) and deep venous thrombosis (DVT). While the symptoms of both disorders are noticeable, these symptoms are sometimes mistaken for signs of other conditions, making the disorders difficult to diagnose. Nurses must examine all symptoms and rule out other potential disorders before diagnosing and prescribing treatment for patients. In this Assignment, you explore the epidemiology, pathophysiology, and clinical presentation of CVI and DVT.

Personal Philosophy of Teaching, Part I

I believe that a truly devoted teacher must have a clear understanding of the ways people learn, perceive and process information, and apply their knowledge in everyday life. My personal philosophy of teaching is based on the conviction that this process is directly related to the learners’ intellectual, social, and cultural context, as well as their physical abilities. Also, the primary goal of an excellent educator is to promote the ideas of equality, self-determination, and respect among learners. Thinking about various educational theories and practices that appear to be in line with my philosophy, I realize that the concept of democratic education is the most suitable one. This framework is grounded in the cognitive theory of learning. Therefore, I feel the need to study these topics in order to transform my beliefs, goals, and strategies into a coherent approach to teaching.

Democratic education is the approach that promotes respect for the fundamental social values and human rights, rather than the need for extensive control and strict rules. According to the Institute for Democratic Education in America, all the learners should be considered as “active co-creators” of knowledge instead of being viewed as “passive recipients” of information (Bennis, 2018). Personally, I am going to implement this idea in all possible teaching practices, making my students engaged and intrinsically motivated. With that said, it is necessary to define intrinsic motivation. Throughout the history, students of all ages were either terrified by the possibility to be punished or inspired by the opportunity of being rewarded. This is how extrinsic motivation works. On the contrary, people’s natural desires, feelings, and beliefs are primary drivers of intrinsic motivation. When experiencing mutual respect and overall importance, the students should be able to develop their moral and intellectual potential. This issue is of primary importance for me since it forms the foundation for the further development of one’s personality. One of the strongest features of democratic educations is the premise that everyone is unique, having some individual processes related to learning. As stated by Bennis (2018), the democratic teacher who supports the learning of each person individually, helps these people to understand themselves, engage with the surrounding world, “and become positive and contributing members of society.” I have experienced the benefits of this approach myself, being the child of the patient and devoted parents. All the members of my family respect individuality and free will, paying much attention to young children’s personalities and the ways of expression. As a result, I have developed the sense of people’s value and uniqueness since early childhood. Professional educators tend to build their own instruments and strategies based on the students’ age and cultural background. Still, only those teachers who have a clear understanding of specific theoretical approaches can be genuinely successful.

Most educators have their own favorite theories and ideas, and I have chosen the cognitive theory of learning to be my North Star. To my mind, the process of learning is directly linked with specific behavioral patterns which, in turn, stimulate the development of specific cognitive, social, and even language skills. According to Ertmer and Newby (2013), the cognitive theory of education aims to establish a direct correlation between the students’ learning skills and their personal experience and history. These scholars believe that people usually build their own reality based on the information acquired from the external environment (Ertmer and Newby, 2013, p. 55). I agree that personal and environmental issues must be taken into account when it comes to sharing of knowledge with students. People’s behavior is situational, which means that teachers are supposed to create the environment that would be beneficial for students’ motivation and engagement. The cognitive theory of learning attracts teachers’ attention to such complicated processes as thinking, communication, problem-solving, or working with a wide range of information. At the same time, this theoretical approach insists on the need to consider the peculiarities of the students’ mental work as one of the most significant aspects of teaching and learning. I believe that this idea can have practical implications. For example, I am going to focus on the ways to establish an equitable dialogue with my students. The power of communication is the phenomenon that should not be underestimated either in people’s everyday life or the process of learning. Teacher’s primary task, therefore, is to make sure that their students can interpret information and use it for their own purposes.

I realize that it would be impossible to teach someone against their will. Consequently, it is necessary to develop specific methods that are going to facilitate student learning. I believe that I will be able to employ the instruments of play-based learning. Being based on cognitive theory, this strategy is related to motivation and engagement. People’s behavior is determined by thinking. If my students enjoy their classes, they will work productively and will be more successful in general. It would be wrong to claim that only young children are fond of games and playing. I often deal with new information through play myself, as long as this method appears to be effective and useful. For example, there are several applications in my tablet that help me learn foreign languages and to develop logical reasoning and visual memory. There is no doubt that such an approach is much more engaging than cramming. The significant aspect of playing is that this activity promotes learning without infringing upon students’ cultural and social environment, which makes it universally applicable.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think that my philosophy of teaching benefits from its flexibility and inclusiveness. Democratic education contributes to students’ motivation, engagement, activeness, creativity, and cognitive skills. I consider myself to be a dedicated supporter of this approach. I believe that even if my personal teaching philosophy changes over the time, the elements of democratic education and the cognitive theory of learning will remain as a strong foundation to build on.

References

Bennis, Dana. (2018). What is democratic education? Institute for Democratic Education in   America.

Ertmer, P.A., & Newby, T.J. (2013). Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Constructivism

Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance   Improvement Quarterly, 26 (2), pp. 43-71.

The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate that while a random sample from a population is not guaranteed to give a completely accurate representation of any characteristic of the population, a random sample tends to give a fairly accurate representation of the population across a wide variety of characteristics.

1. (5) Refer to the SPSS data file containing information about the 328 staff survey results (STAFFSURVEY.sav).  For all 328 surveys, obtain descriptive measures for years of service (Service), construct a histogram for years of service (Service), and construct a bar graph for the age of the staff member (Age). (3 points)
2. (6) Draw 5 different simple random samples, each of size 25, from the 328 staff survey results.  Use SPSS to draw the samples.  Set the starting point 3409  To do this, go to the Transform menu, select Random Number Generators and look under Active Generator Initialization.  Select Set Starting Point.  Choose Fixed Value and type in the last four digits of your ID number.  After each sample is drawn, the data file can be reverted to its original form by highlighting the filter column and right-clicking to clear it. If you elect to output a dataset for each random sample of n = 25, you wont need to revert the file back to its original form.
3. (6) For each sample, obtain descriptive statistics min, max, mean, standard deviation for the years of service (Service), construct a histogram of the years of service (Service), and construct a bar graph for the age of the staff member (Age).  You do not need to show the staff members selected, but you do need to show the statistics and graphs for each sample.
4. Using this exercise as an example, explain (briefly, please) what is meant by the terms
   1. (1) Sampling variability
   2. (1) Sampling error
5. (1) Do you think that this exercise has illustrated the purpose stated above?  Explain briefly.

Sociological Lenses

Across our country and others, families sit down together to enjoy a family dinner together.  It can be joyful or even argumentative.  It has changed through the years from being a reserved dining experience to a time for families to express themselves (Griffin, 2016).  In the past, it was considered a tradition.  It was a time where the family became unified.  Let’s look at this familial trend through sociological lenses.

Conflict theory in sociology states that conflicts arise when resources, status, and power are not distributed equally between groups in society and that these conflicts fuel social change (Crossman, 2017).  Having family dinners is more important today than in the past because there are so many more distractions such as technology and a variety of activities to chose from outside of the home.  There is a conflict for devotion to family time without these distractions.  We meet and interact with many different types of people during the day and our children are learning about the world from various places without input or filters from parents.  Family meals can provide a secure place to discuss ideas, current events, and daily happenings.  These meals provide opportunities to parents to be role models for communication and manners, give children a sense of security, monitor their emotional, educational, and even spiritual growth, prevent destructive behaviors, nourish and expand their worlds one food at a time, and save money (Hand, 2005).  There is a conflict of finding time between working and children’s extracurricular obligations.

Functionalism looks at each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole society (Crossman, 2017). Family mealtime is still an important function in our society.   Research shows that family meals help nurture children’s social, cognitive, emotional, and nutritional development. The normal family mealtime has changed because of changes to the definition of what a family unit can be, the necessity for women to work outside of the home, or that the food is from a fast-food restaurant in front of the TV, or some other kind of distraction, due to the use of technology.  Despite the changes, family mealtime is still a historic tradition and functions to stabilize society and the growth of young people in society.

Symbolic interaction theory analyzes society by looking at the meanings that people impose on objects, events, and behaviors (Crossman, 2017).  Before the late 18th century, dining rooms and dining tables were not used or thought of and it made it difficult for families to dine together regularly.  Tables and rooms had multiple uses and families would sometimes eat in shifts.  If there were not enough chairs, the men would sit and the women and children would stand (Griffin, 2016).  The rise of American family dinners began in the late 1700’s.  One of the first American homes to have a room specifically for dining was Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, which was built in 1772. The dining room with the dining table at its center, began to become a part of wealthy homes across the country and eventually began coming into middle class homes (Griffin, 2016).  With a designated space for family meals and enough seating, family meals had a set time and parents used this time to educate children about manners and religion.  In 1943, the sociologist James H.S. Bossard wrote that “it is at the dining table, and particularly at dinner time, that the family is apt to be at its greatest ease.” (Griffin, 2016) In the same year, The Saturday Evening Post published Norman Rockwell’s Freedom from Want, where a family is dining around a Thanksgiving table.  It was symbolic of the strength of American values during World War II. The people in the painting not only have food, but are very happy, smiling at each other and the viewer (Griffin, 2016).  Dining together at the dining room table with family is symbolic interaction and brings families together.

References

Becky Hand, Licensed & Registered Dietician. (2005, June 11). The Benefits of Eating Together.

Crossman, A. (2017, June 30). Everything You Need to Know About Functionalist Theory.

Crossman, A. (2017, August 7). Learn About Symbolic Interactionism, the Theories and Perspective.

Crossman, A. (2017, August 4). What Is Conflict Theory?

Griffin, M. (2016, February 16). ‘No Place for Discontent’: A History of The Family Dinner in America.

Healthcare Policy Concern – Prescription Drug Overdose

Drug and substance abuse continues to be a pervasive problem in the United States. More specifically, the use of opioids has been on the rise in the youth. With the endemic nature of opioid abuse in the teenage population, there is need to educate high school students about the effects of drug and substance abuse and the risk factors associated with drug abuse. The opioid crisis has received much attention in the U.S. as more adolescents than ever are dying from an opioid overdose. It is important the youth are exposed to an educational program that will influence their reaction to the drugs. This presentation suggests the educational program should be included in the school curriculum, especially for high school students, as a way of expanding the knowledge of the students and enabling them to understand the challenges and effects associated with opioid abuse.

The study chose Senator Rob Portman of Ohio to lobby and advocate for the policy change. Mr. Portman has been at the forefront in the fight against drug and substance abuse in the United States. Previously, he has lobbied for various constitutional changes to tighten the process of drug distribution, manufacturing, and access. Similarly, in his efforts to curtail opioid abuse, the senator influenced recent efforts to enact bipartisan legislation to address the opioid epidemic in both state and national levels. His role in the program was considered indispensable as he will attempt to increase awareness and political influence on the issue.

One of the essential communication and presentation strategies is confidence. As Bubel et al. (2016) observe, there are two aspects of confidence; one must be confident as a speaker and exude confidence too in the material presented. Confidence can either be innate or acquired; however, in most cases, self-confidence is acquired. The presentation considers the essentiality of self-confidence in making the audience understand the negative effects of opioid abuse. Additionally, clarity is another crucial ingredient of the presentation. Irrespective of the complexity of the topic, it is essential that important points are presented logically and coherently. The presentation understands that most people interested in knowing about opioid abuse may not have the technical expertise to understand some of the jargons associated with nursing and medicine. Clarity further requires that a presentation is ended with a recap of the major points, a construct that this presentation considers.

Apart from clarity in content, setting the state is another important presentation strategy. According to Bailey (2018), it is always advisable to start with an introduction as it sets the stage for a collaborative and interactive meeting. More specifically, Kurtzman and Greene (2016) suggest that when giving a speech or presentation about an idea, it is important to talk about the purpose, the need, and reason. This presentation gives background about the severity and prevalence of opioid use amongst teenagers citing statistics from different sources. As well, it makes the audience understand the need for a change in school policy to ensure that addition and exposure to the drug are prevented at infant stages. Similarly, the presentation will use icebreakers and engage the audience through an interactive process. An interactive process ensures that the audience is given a chance to contribute to the presentation either by asking and answering questions. In so doing, the subject manner will be understood and remembered by the audience.

In the evaluation, the content delivered was exhaustive. The video presentation gave a comprehensive analysis of opioid use in the U.S. and the increasing consumption in the adolescent population. However, the content should be improved to provide descriptive statistics. As for the method of delivery, the effective methods of delivery such as staying connected to the audience, effective opening, and grammar were used. However, staying connected to the audience was an issue that requires self-improvement. In the style of delivery, various cues such as voice clarity, gestures, and appearances were used. However, maintaining an eye contact was difficult thereby requiring self-improvement.

Overall, the video presentation gave precise information about the prevalence, risk factors and a proposed policy change about opioid abuse. The paper further considered an advocacy representative, senator from Ohio, to champion the legislative cause. In the presentation, the styles of delivery, content, and methods of delivery were superb.

References

Kurtzman, E. T., & Greene, J. (2016). Effective presentation of healthcare performance information for consumer decision making: A systematic review. Patient education and counseling, 99(1), 36-43.

Bailey, R. L. (2018). An Overview of Classroom-based Speech-Language Pathology Services. In Viewpoints on Interventions for Learners with Disabilities (pp. 183-196). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Bubel, M., Jiang, R., Lee, C. H., Shi, W., & Tse, A. (2016, May). AwareMe: addressing fear of public speech through awareness. In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems(pp. 68-73). ACM.

Dart, R. C., Surratt, H. L., Cicero, T. J., Parrino, M. W., Severtson, S. G., Bucher-Bartelson, B., & Green, J. L. (2015). Trends in opioid analgesic abuse and mortality in the United States. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(3), 241-248.

COLLAPSE
What do the poems “The Red Wheelbarrow, ” by William Carlos Williams, and “The Man with the Stars Inside Him” and the “Six Hundred Pound Man,” by Jack Coulehan,” reveal about what doctors think and feel for their patients? Refer to lines and images in the three poems when discussing your answer.

QUESTION 2
COLLAPSE
From reading his article, how would you characterize the type of doctor William Carlos Williams is? Refer to the article, citing examples.

What kind of doctor is Richard Selzer? Why does Selzer spy on his patient? What is is the difference between what Selzer and the head nurse and aide think about the patient? What condition do you think the patient has?

QUESTION 3
When I first saw the film Patch Adams years ago, I thought it was fiction and I saw this doctor as immature and silly. I later discovered that Patch Adams is a real doctor!

In fact, the actual Geshundheit Institute followed much of this model, and it was in operation for twelve years and has plans for future development.

After watching the film Patch Adams and the Youtube video called “Why We’re Doing This: The Real Patch Adam revealed,” answer this question: Do you think Patch Adams’ model of health care is an effective and feasible model…or is it a romantic and unrealistic one, or is it a little of both? If you watched the optional documentary called Patch Adams and Clown Troupe in Kabal, feel free to discuss it in your

CASE APPLICATION 1 Passion for the Outdoors and for People

At its headquarters in Ventura, California, Patagonia’s office space feels more like a national park lodge than the main office of a $400 million retailer.100 It has a Douglas fir staircase and a portrait of Yosemite’s El Capitan. The company’s café serves organic food and drinks. There’s an infant and toddler child-care room for employees’ children. An easy one-block walk from the Pacific Ocean, employees’ surfboards are lined up by the cafeteria, ready at a moment’s notice to catch some waves. (Current wave reports are noted on a whiteboard in the lobby.) After surfing or jogging or biking, employees can freshen up in the showers in the restrooms. And no one has a private office. If an employee doesn’t want to be disturbed, he or she wears headphones. Visitors are evident by the business attire they wear. The company encourages celebrations to boost employee morale. For instance, at the Reno store, the “Fun Patrol” organizes parties throughout the year.

Patagonia has long been recognized as a great workplace for mothers. And it’s also earned a reputation for loyal employees, something that many retailers struggle with. Its combined voluntary and involuntary turnover in its retail stores was around 25 percent, while it was only 7 percent at headquarters. (The industry average for retail is around 44 percent.) Patagonia’s CEO Casey Sheahan says the company’s culture, camaraderie, and way of doing business is very meaningful to employees and they know that “what they do each day is contributing toward a higher purpose—protecting and preserving the areas that most of them love spending time in.” Managers are coached to define expectations, communicate deadlines, and then let employees figure out the best way to meet those.

Founded by Yvon Chouinard (his profile as a Leader Who Made a Difference can be found on p. 134), Patagonia’s first and strongest passion is for the outdoors and the environment. And that attracts employees who are also passionate about those things. But Patagonia’s executives do realize that they are first and foremost a business and, even though they’re committed to doing the right thing, the company needs to remain profitable to be able to continue to do the things it’s passionate about. But that hasn’t seemed to be an issue since the recession in the early 1990s when the company had to make its only large-scale layoffs in its history.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What would it be like to work at Patagonia? (Hint: Go to Patagonia’s Web site and find the section on jobs.) What’s your assessment of the company’s work environment?
2. Using what you’ve learned from studying the various motivation theories, what does Patagonia’s situation tell you about employee motivation?
3. What do you think might be Patagonia’s biggest challenge in keeping employees motivated?
4. If you were managing a team of Patagonia employees in the retail stores, how would you keep them motivated?

Read the Case Application 1: Passion for the Outdoors and for People (end of Chapter 17).

After reading the case details, prepare your team report for Patagonia managers by answering the following questions:

• According to Maslow’s hierarchy, which basic needs does the Patagonia culture meet? What would it be like to work at Patagonia? (Hint: Go to Patagonia’s website and find the section on jobs.) What’s your assessment of the company’s work environment? (20 points)
• Use the expectancy theory or the equity theory of motivation to explain how feeling underpaid might affect the work of a Patagonia associate and what a manager can do to increase the employee’s motivation. (20 points)
• What do you think might be Patagonia’s biggest challenge in keeping employees motivated? If you were managing a team of Patagonia employees in the retail stores, how would you keep them motivated? (20 points)

 Application: Planned Change
in a Department or Unit

Health care organizations are continuously immersed in change from the emergence of new policies, to promote quality care and improve patient safety to keeping pace with the rapid growth in knowledge and best practices. Establishing a solid framework for planning and implementing change is a wise move, as it provides a foundation for the extensive coordination that will be needed to successfully facilitate the change.

For this Assignment, you propose a change at the department or unit level and develop a plan for guiding the change effort.