DISCUSSION 1:

Reflection

Here are two articles that offers some tips on writing:

Blum, J. (2008). 8 Steps to Writing: A Good, Very Good, Excellent Essay. Writing, 30(4), 12-15.

Kovach, R. (2010). 25 tips to sharpen your writing: Want to learn some ways to strengthen, energize, clarify and trim your Words? Here are a few tricks of the trade from a “writer” editor. Writer, 123(11), 28-55.

After reading these articles, offer your critique of the pointers provided by the authors. Further, see if you can improve the articles by applying some of those tips.

For the second part of this discussion forum, reflect on the following questions. Share your responses with your peers.

• What activity(ies) did you find most helpful in developing your writing and research skills?
• Which course objectives (refer to syllabus if necessary) will be valuable to you outside of this EN102 course?
• What else do you feel you need to know to continue developing your writing and research skills?
• What has helped you gain confidence in your writing abilities?

DISCUSSION 2:

Propose an Amendment to the Constitution

Please respond to EACH of the following discussion topics and submit them to the discussion forum as a single post. Your initial post should be 75-150 words in length. Then, make at least two thoughtful responses to your fellow students’ posts. If you haven’t recently, please review the Rules of Discussion.

After reviewing what you have learned in this course, especially the text of the United States Constitution, propose to the class an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Be sure to make an argument supporting your proposed amendment. Why should this change be made? How will it benefit the lives of Americans across the country? Why does this issue need a Constitutional Amendment and not just a state or federal law change?

For your follow up posts critique the argument of a peer’s proposed amendment or respond to the questions from your peers regarding your proposed amendment.

Please Note: You may not just copy and paste the text of your assignment for your initial discussion post. Your initial discussion post should be made prior to writing your paper and just be a brief paragraph or two presenting your proposed change. You may not submit their assignment text as their discussion post. You may summarize your text, similar to writing an abstract in an academic paper. Feel free to incorporate your peers follow up posts and feedback into your paper as their ideas and questions may help you consider new ideas while you write your paper.

DISCUSSION 3:

The Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity

Overview:

Welcome to the week 3 discussion. As culturally aware as we may be, we all see the world through the lenses of our own cultural experiences, and even the greatest among us struggle to understand people who are different from us. For this discussion, Review the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity on pages 81-85 of the Learning through Serving text. (LECTURE ATTACHED WITH THE SIX STAGES)

Directions:

Please respond to all the following items in your initial post by Sunday. In addition, engage with your classmates by making comments and/or asking questions that build upon your peer’s posts.

• Which one of these six stages do you find yourself in?
• Why do you think that is?
• What could do to climb to the next level?
• Remember, we are all learning and growing here, so there are no right or wrong answers, so long as we are being honest with ourselves and others.

DISCUSSION 4:

Successive Discounts

Retailers often mark down products in order to attract customers. We all like a good sale at our favorite store. This week we will discuss successive discounts.

Here is an example of a successive discount. I went to my favorite store and I found a purse on sale for 30% off. Luckily that day, the store also offered an additional 25% off the already discounted price. The original price of the purse was $120. How much did I pay for the purse if the sales tax rate is 8.25%?

Here is how I can find the final price:

Find the complements of the discounts:

• The complement of 30% is (100% – 30%) = 70% = 0.70.
• The complement of 25% is (100% – 25%) = 75% = 0.75.

Multiply the original price by the complements of the discounts:

• ($120)(0.70)(.75) = $63 This is the sale price.

Now find the total price including tax. To do this multiply the sale price by (1 + the sales tax)

• ($63)(1 + .0825) = $68.20 This is the total price I paid.

Find an example of a successive discount, either form your favorite store, in a weekly circular, or on the internet. Show all your calculations for finding the sale price (using the example above as a guideline) including the sales tax using the sales tax rate in your community. Discuss how most people miscalculate successive discounts in comparison to the calculation you posted and explain the reasons for the miscalculation most people do.

Assume that you applied the method proposed in the research study you designed for the first discussion activity this week and now have the data. Which of the methods used for analyzing survey data would you use and why? Be sure to explain why the approach that you are proposing to use for data analysis is consistent with the survey research method that you employed. In addition, identify the measurement scale (nominal, ordinal, interval, or ratio) of the data you obtained and differentiate the research terminology used.

Your initial post should be 250 to 300 words. Utilize a minimum of two peer-reviewed sources that were published within the last 10 years and are documented in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Week 5 – Assignment: Evaluate Strategies for Improving Communication

Instructions

The ability of a healthcare manager to effectively communicate both expectations and recognition of staff accomplishments forms the foundation for keeping staff motivated. Increasing the frequency of feedback loops means increasing communications to staff indicating they are appreciated and valued for their contributions to the organization. This is important for them to know.

In an analytical paper, prepare a written response to the following:

1. Describe five strategies for improving communications that have been proven to be effective in healthcare organizations. Critique these strategies to justify why they are effective. Library and Internet resources will be helpful here.

2. Discuss how verbal and non-verbal forms of communication each play an important role in how a manager interacts with leadership (peer colleagues and senior level) and with employees. What must a manager keep in mind when communicating with each group? Provide examples to support your findings.

Support your paper with at least three scholarly resources. In addition to these specified resources, other appropriate scholarly resources, including older articles, may be included.

Length: 5-7 pages, not including title and reference pages

Your paper should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course by providing new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards.

Criteria

Described five strategies for improving communication (2 points).

Discussed verbal and non-verbal forms of communication (2 points).

Appraised how a manager communicates with peers, senior leadership, and employees (3 points).

Included a minimum of three scholarly references, with appropriate APA formatting applied to citations and paraphrasing. Paper is 5-7 pages long not including the title and reference pages (3 points).

(Total Points 10)

Please research website for additional help:Phutela, D. (2015). The importance of non-verbal communication.

Please Watch following videos for additional help:

Building a Magnetic Culture: How to Attract Top Employees, Engage Them, and Make Them Want to Stay

produced by Briefings Media Group, in Retaining Great Employees: Tactics for Hanging on to Your Best Talent (Bethesda, MD: Columbia Books, 2013, originally published 2013), 1 hour 26 mins

Professional Behavior In Healthcare Professions: Professionalism And Self-Presentation

produced by Odyssey Productions, in Professional Behavior In Healthcare Professions (New York, NY: Alexander Street, 2007), 23 mins

Staff Relations In Healthcare: Working As A Team

directed by Ken Lam, fl. 2008; produced by Ken Lam, fl. 2008 (New York, NY: Alexander Street, 2010), 33 mins

Watch the speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JwrRXozCXA

b. Explain the significance of the special relationship between the U.S. and France. Use a few examples from his speech to support your explanation.

c. How does Macron use this special relationship to highlight the importance of American leadership and engagement in the world and the need to strengthen democracy and commit to facing global challenges? What does he mean by this? Use specific examples from the speech in your analysis.

d. Choose one additional point you felt was particularly important and explain why. What did you think of his speech?

e. Citations should follow MLA or Chicago in text parenthetical citations with a Works Cited.