ACTU PS5821 Actuarial Methods - Autumn 2024 Assignment - 3 Assigned 9/20/24, Due 9/28/24 Problem 1. Let F0(t) = 1 − e −λt, where λ > 0. (a) Show that ex = (e λ − 1)−1 (b) Calculate ex when λ = 0.01 Problem 2. Suppose we modify the Makeham’s law to the following force of mortality, µx = A + Bx + CDx (a) Derive a formula for tpx (b) Numerically evaluate the following with A = 0.00005, B = 0.0000005, C = 0.0003, D = 1.07 (b1) 20|10q30 (b2) e70 (b3) ˚e70 to 7 decimal places, using the Trapezium rule at n = 100 and the Repeated Simpson’s rule at n = 10. The “exact” value is 13.5435472 Problem 3. Mortality follows Calculate Problem 4. Mortality follows qx+k = 0.1(k + 1) for k = 0, 1, 2, ..., 9. X = min(K, 3) where K is the curtate future lifetime random variable. Calculate V ar(X).
Module Code: MAN000130M Module Title: Managing People in the Global Context Open/Closed Assessment: Open Maximum Word Count: 3000 Release Date: Week 4 Submission Deadline: Monday 13th January 2025 Weighting: 100% Important information A penalty of five marks will be deducted for late submissions that are made within the first hour after the deadline. Submissions that are more than one hour late but within the first 24 hours of the deadline will incur a penalty of ten marks. After the first 24 hours have passed, ten marks will be deducted for every 24 hours (or part thereof) that the submission is late for a total of 5 days. After 5 days it is treated as a non-submission and given a mark of zero. The consequences of non-submission are serious and can include de-registration from the University. If you are unable to complete your open assessment by the submission date indicated above because of Exceptional Circumstances you can apply for an extension. If unforeseeable and exceptional circumstances do occur, you must seek support and provide evidence as soon as possible at the time of the occurrence. Applications must be made before the deadline to be considered. Full details of the Exceptional Circumstances Policy and claim form. can be found here: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/progress/exceptional-circumstances If you submit your open assessment on time but feel that your performance has been affected by Exceptional Circumstances you may submit an Exceptional Circumstances Affecting Assessment claim form. by 7 days from the published assessment submission deadline. If you do not submit by the deadline indicated without good reason your claim will not be considered. Please take proper precautions to safeguard your work and remember to make backup copies of your data. The University provides all its students with storage space on the University server and you should save and back up any work in progress on this server on a regular basis. Computer failure and theft of your equipment or storage media are not considered exceptional circumstances and extensions cannot be granted for work lost for these reasons. Word count requirements The word count for this assignment is [3000] words. You must state on the front of your assignment the number of words used and this will be checked. The main text for this assignment must be word-processed in Arial, font 12, double spacing, minimum 2cm margins all around. You must observe the word count specified in this assignment brief. The School has a policy of accepting variations to the recommended word count of plus or minus 10%. What does this mean for you? Markers will mark your work up to the word count maximum plus 10% and then will stop marking; therefore all words which are in excess of the word count plus 10% will not be marked. Where your word count is more than 10% below that specified, it is likely that this will result in a lack of analytical depth or relevant content, which will be reflected in the mark assigned. What is in the word count? The word count includes: - the main text, including in-text reference citations and quotations. The word count does not include: - Appendices. These may be used to include supporting data, which may be too detailed or complex to include as a Table. They are not a device to incorporate material, which would otherwise cause you to exceed the word limit. - Title page - Contents page - Abstract/executive summary - Tables, figures, legends - Reference lists - Acknowledgements Assignment: Introduction As discussed in the seminar classes, this assignment is an opportunity for you to demonstrate what you have learned on this module in relation to the learning outcomes, ie. to be able to: ● Demonstrate knowledge of the different topics and theories covered on this module ● Understand, critique [and reflect on] different theories relating to managing people ● Apply theory to practice, through real world examples ● Understand and plan an assignment ● Develop your own arguments based on theoretical knowledge of the subject and personal experience ● Apply an international/global perspective to your analysis Assignment: In the first lecture we introduced you to the idea of context and how this relates to the range of crises currently affecting organisations and societies across the world. In terms of crisis, we highlighted the following: the Yemen shipping crisis, war in Ukraine, the Gaza / Israel conflict, conflict in Sudan, US elections, Brexit, the legacy of Covid 19, climate change, and the water crisis in India. Other examples include the UK ‘cost of living crisis’, gender based violence and sexual harassment across the world. You can probably think of many more examples. These crises can affect organisations in many ways, including how they respond/adapt through the management of people. We invite you to write ONE individually researched 3,000-word essay on ‘Aspects of managing people in times of crisis’, with the following requirements. Assignment instructions Part 1: Applying theory to practice (2000 Words Maximum) (65%) i) (250 words approximately) Identify a crisis currently affecting organisations in any part of the world and briefly describe this crisis and its impact on society and organisations. ii) (250 words approximately) Choose any organisation from any part of the world and briefly describe this organisation in terms of its role, market, size, mission and vision. Please research this organisation using the UoY library and other available resources, including the organisation website, media, published academic sources and case studies. iii) (1,500 words approximately) Choose either one or two of the following topics to analyse how your chosen organisation is responding, has responded and/or should respond to your identified crisis, either in terms of: ● Managing people and employability in the global labour market ● Organisation types, structures, teams and work design ● Theories of managing people - from classical to human relations approaches ● Leadership ● Organisational culture ● Power and control ● Technology and change in organisations ● Diversity and difference in organisations ● Organisational Ethics Part 2: Reflection (1000 Words Maximum) (35%) [This is separate from Part 1. It is about what you feel you have learned from this module and how you will apply this new knowledge and skill(s) to develop your future career.] Using the knowledge and skills gained from this module please reflect on how this is likely to influence your future career. You should choose one or two topics from the module (listed above) and reflect on the knowledge and skills you have gained and developed in relation to each of these topics. For example, what types of leadership styles and skills have you become aware of and how will you aim to develop your leadership skills in the future? What type of organisational environment would enable you to develop these skills? What type of organisational culture would support you in developing these skills? How will your knowledge of diversity and difference influence your approach to working and/or leading in organisations? How will developing these different skills help you to succeed in the global labour market? Notes We are looking to assess what you have learned on this module. Please ensure you draw on appropriate theoretical knowledge from the module. Sources relating to your chosen topic should be mainly from the recommended textbooks and literature within the reading list for each topic. We have selected these readings carefully. You may also wish to draw on other sources relating to your chosen organisation (eg. from news media, case studies and organisation websites) as well as other recognised English language academic (journal) sources to support your discussion. Online sources from commercial providers (eg. workplace.com) and/or professional essay-writing services (eg. UK Essays) are not acceptable sources for academic subject knowledge.
School of Physics, Engineering and Technology ELE00152M Practical Robotics for MSc Assessment 2024/25 Summary Details This assessment (Construction of a Navigating Mobile Robot) contributes 100% of the assessment for this module. Clearly indicate your Name on every separate piece of work submitted. Submission is via VLE and is due by 12:00 on 13 January 2025 (Semester 1 Common Assessment Period, Monday) as found on the Statement of Assessment. Please try and submit early as any late submissions will be penalised. Assessment information including on late penalties is given in the Statement of Assessment. Construction of a Navigating Mobile Robot You are required to create a robot that can map and efficiently make its way through an indoor environment. You will also need to prepare and deliver a 5-minute presentation on your robot design and the algorithm you have implemented for navigating and obstacle avoidance. Test mazes will be available with which you can develop and improve your algorithms, but one of the mazes that your robot will be evaluated on will not be revealed until the demonstration session after the assessment submission. This will also test the generality of your approach. First, you will need to build a differential-drive robot with a camera that can find its way through a maze-like environment. You have the use of the York Robotics Laboratory Kit that includes a chassis with motor and camera mounts, a Raspberry Pi 4, an Arduino Robotics Board (ARB) that provides easy-to-use sensor and actuator interfaces, a Pololu TB6612FNG dual motor driver, a set of infrared and ultrasonic range sensors, a set of micro-metal gear motors with encoders, wheels that fit on the motors, and other parts that can be used for constructing a small mobile robot.. To assemble and program your robot please refer to the laboratory documentation and resources for assembly guidance and tips. You are permitted to customize your robot as much as you want as time permits before the assessment. You can change the body design and add additional microcontrollers, actuators, sensors, and other components from those available in the robot laboratories to improve the performance of your robot. However, you must ask the technical staff for access to additional components beyond those available in the robot kit and fabrication of additional parts beyond those required for basic functionality, and your final robot must conform to any and all safety or cost requirements imposed by the technical staff to be eligible for credit in the demonstration. The project is split into four phases plus a presentation and demonstration of your robot’s performance, and the practical lab sessions during the module are designed so as to be part of your work in completing this navigating robot, so it is important that you complete all of the lab exercises. Please note that your program code must be submitted along with other materials and is part of the assessment grading, so make sure to adhere to good coding practices: comment your code so as to be clear and easy for others to understand, and if you have used code from other sources e.g. github or online forums include complete references to where you obtained the code in your comments as well. A navigable course environment with ArUco tags and geometric tags with different shapes and colours will be set up in the P/T/410 Robot Lab for your use. An example layout of a course with tags of various kinds to aid in navigation is provided in Figure 1 below. You are expected to show your robot's performance on both the course provided as an example in the module laboratory sessions, and also a new course which will not be available until the assessment demonstration date. Your robot’s build quality and performance and your presentation together will be assessed after the hand-in date and graded out of 100 points. Phase 1: Construction of a Differential-Drive Robot Chassis You will need to construct a mobile robot chassis using the kit materials on which to mount the Raspberry Pi and electronics, battery pack, two motors, and a camera. The quality and functionality of your robot chassis will be assessed at the demonstration after submission and will constitute 20% of the assessment grade, broken down into 10% for assembly (the robot is a clean build and does not fall apart) and 10% for functionality (the robot moves as desired and does not appear to have any incorrect or nonfunctional build elements). Phase 2: Localization using Machine Vision You will need to write a vision algorithm to allow your robot to navigate through an indoor environment. The more information you can gather about the environment with respect to the robot and the speed of the robot, the better your navigation will perform, so it is suggested that you use the range sensor fused in concert with the camera to predict where obstacles are. The accuracy and real-time capability of your vision algorithm will be assessed in the presentation and demonstration and will constitute 20% of the assessment grade, broken down into 10% for accuracy of sensing (things are where they are predicted to be) and 10% for quality of coding and capability (well thought out use of algorithms/libraries with some originality in your process, runs fast enough to enable navigation, and provides data in a useful format). Phase 3: Robot Control and Navigation You will now need to write a controller that uses the camera and range sensor to travel from a start point to a destination point. Your navigation will need to use wheel odometry, visual, and range feedback to increase accuracy. You should also track the approximate locations of objects found by your vision system in a graph, map, or other structure for later use in planning. You can use any algorithm you feel is appropriate from the course content. The performance of your controller in traveling between the start and endpoints in the environment will be assessed in the presentation and demonstration and will constitute 20% of the assessment grade, broken down into 10% for the quality of the control of your robot and 10% for the quality of code, clarity of writing/commenting, and originality of your algorithm. Phase 4: Mapping and Optimal Path Planning The last task for your robot control system will be to traverse a path back to the start point, but this time by using an optimal path automatically determined by analyzing the map that your controller has generated on the way there. The speed and accuracy with which your robot traverses optimal path back through the maze will be assessed in the presentation and demonstration and will constitute 20% of the assessment grade, broken down into 10% for optimality and efficiency of the path found and traversed (is it a good solution?), and 10% for the quality of critical thinking, originality, and practical implementation of your optimal path following algorithm. Phase 5: Presentation and Technical Assessment A presentation and demonstration session will beheld shortly after the hand-in date. You will need to present your design and approach that you have implemented in a 5 minute presentation per person with 2 minutes for questions afterwards. The performance of your robot and navigation will be assessed in a demonstration session following the presentation. Your presentation will constitute 20% of the assessment grade, broken down into 5% for presentation quality (slide visuals and organization), 5% for ambition (the complexity and depth of thought into your approach), and 10% for technical quality and critical thinking (algorithm and robot appropriate, algorithm implemented correctly, good design methods employed). Deliverables: To receive full credit in this assessment, you must submit the following items in a single .zip file, to the “Assignment Submission Point” provided on the module VLE site, by the deadline date and time given on the cover sheet of this assessment: . Functioning and commented code files for performing visual localization in Phase 2 . Functioning and commented code files for performing control and navigation in Phase 3 . Functioning and commented code files for performing mapping and planning in Phase 4 . Your presentation slides for the presentation in Phase 5 You must also give your presentation and demonstrate the following on the mobile robot in the final presentation and demonstration which is scheduled after the deadline date above. . Basic movement of the mobile robot forward, backward, and turning left and right . Visual identification and localization of objects with estimated position . Autonomous navigation of the robot around obstacles to a goal using sensors . Mapping of obstacles and navigation of the robot back to the start using path planning Feedback template attached. (1) Figure 1: Example layout for a maze-like obstacle course for mobile robot
TRP6412 Real Estate Investment: resit assignment brief This resit coursework comprises two elements: 1. The first is that you are required to complete your work again, revising and improving it based on the feedback provided on your original submission. Your new submission is expected to show clear evidence that you have understood and acted upon the feedback. The original assignment is reproduced below. 2. You must also submit a note of 500 words explaining what changes you have made to your original assignment and explaining why you believe that these changes have improved the assignment. Scenario: You are employed as a fund manager with PIM (Portfolio Investment Managers). PIM currently has £25.1 billion of real estate assets under management, and places its ESG responsibilities at the centre of its operations. It uses GRESB to measure its ESG performance, providing transparency to investors. Of the assets under management, 15% are indirect property in the UK. Brief: GreenGrass Pensions is your largest UK-based client, and you have recently taken over as fund manager of their £1.2 billion direct real estate pension fund. You must submit a report to GreenGrass’ Chief Officer detailing your proposed strategy for the fund for the 12 months to mid Jan 2025. Coverage: Your report should include: • explicit consideration of property investment issues throughout each section of the report, including: (i) investment theory and (ii) practical application of theory to fund management; • an Executive Summary (see the Guidance on Report Writing for content); • an investment strategy, with return and risk objectives and statement of management style; • market analysis and forecasts of performance, with analysis of the consequences for both the benchmark and the portfolio as it is currently structured, to underpin your recommendation; • recommendations for the strategicallocation of the £1.2 billion direct property fund; • details of expected absolute and relative performance; and • one example of a specific target property for purchase (or sale) in each sector, with analysis of specific risk opportunities (or threats) including ESG details. Weightings: Current fund weightings: 26.0% - 5.5% 6.0% 7.5% - 19.0% 6.5% 5.5% 2.9% - 3.0% 10.0% 2.5% 5.6% Current benchmark weightings: 28.4% - 5.5% 7.0% 6.0% - 15.6% 5.0% 7.5% 3.9% - 7.1% 8.0% 0.9% 5.1% Assessment Criteria - your submission will be assessed against the following criteria: • Knowledge and application of investment theories and processes, to underpin advice to a client; • Understanding of the importance of ESG considerations in portfolio management; • Clear and robust development of spreadsheet(s) for portfolio management; and • Presentation to a professional standard for both the written report and excel spreadsheets, including good skills in referencing using the Harvard style. Submission: • As set out in the Module Outline, this submission provides 100% of the mark for the module. • The submission comprises a professional report (2,500 words) plus excel spreadsheets. • The report should include diagrams and data as appropriate. Bulky supporting material would be best placed in appendices, which do not contribute to the word count. • You are expected to have drawn upon the Guidance for Report Writing, available in the ‘My Assignments’ section on Blackboard for the original submission. • Your submission will comprise two elements: (i) the professional report; and (ii) your excel file. The excel spreadsheets must be your own original spreadsheets and analysis, demonstrating your understanding. The spreadsheets must be titled and presented clearly so that your client can follow them easily.
DIGITAL MARKETING Module Code: MGT3006 Coursework Code: MGT3006-1 (Individual) Module Title: Digital Marketing Date Available: October 2024 You can submit your assignment multiple times to the submission link on the module Blackboard site. Each time you submit you will receive a Similarity Report. You can check this and improve your referencing before the final deadline. After 3 submissions you will need to wait 24hrs before you receive a new report. Please note: each new submission replaces any previous submission. It is not possible to retrieve a previous submission. Your final submission must be made before the deadline to avoid late penalties. You should note that the time of submission is taken from once the document has been successfully uploaded and confirmed – this may take more than five minutes during busy periods. Late penalties will be applied to any work submitted from 12.01pm on 28th January 2025 onwards. Technical issues, such as a loss of Wifi or a corrupt file, are not acceptable reasons for being late/requiring an extension. Details of how to calculate a late penalty can be found in your programme Handbook. It is your responsibility to ensure the correct document/file has uploaded successfully. When submitting students must: 1. Include a completed cover sheet. 2. Use ‘Student Number, MGT3006-1’ as the document’s file name and also as the Assignment Title in Turnitin. If you do not comply with the above requirements, you will receive a penalty deduction of 5 marks. Contribution to Final Mark for Module: 100% Maximum Word Length: 3,000 words. The submission must be in a business report format, e.g., using headings, subheadings, diagrams, graphs, tables, narrative, bullet-points, references, etc. The word count ONLY EXCLUDES the cover sheet, title page, executive summary, contents page, bibliography/reference list and appendices. EVERYTHING else including tables, graphs, diagrams, and …, is included in the word count. Please note that SUMS does not have a word count tolerance - it is a stated maximum as outlined above. If you exceed the word length you will be penalised. For details see the Management School Handbooks. Part 1: Requirements: Students should develop a digital marketing strategy plan for a real-life micro business or SME (small and medium-sized enterprise with fewer than 250 employees) based in Sheffield. To verify the number of employees, you can visit the selected company’s website or search for them on the Companies House website (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house). Examples of micro businesses or SMEs: • Bakery/Delicatessen • Green Grocers • Independent Car Dealership • Independent Fast Food Restaurant • Laundrette • Independent Health Food Store • Café/Coffee Shop • Health Spa • Independent Gym • Accountancy Firm • Tattoo Parlour • Newsagents • Florist • Independent Restaurant • Hairdressers/Barbers • Local Convenience Store • Independent Tech/Computer Company • … The selected company must have at least some existing social media presence or another form. of digital marketing (e.g., a website) to be eligible for this assignment. Completion of this assessment will require desk research into the rationale for the choice of the selected company and the covered digital marketing topics. There are plenty of sources provided in the “Reading list” on Blackboard, and students are expected to engage in independent reading, utilising library and secondary sources. There is no expectation or requirement to contact the selected company or conduct primary research. The formal briefing for this assessment will take place during the final lecture. Part 2. Assessment Rationale The individual assessment builds upon the knowledge and skills gained in this module by asking students to develop a digital marketing plan for a Sheffield-based micro business or SME. The assessment will require creativity, a sound understanding of the organisation, and the application of digital marketing theory. SMEs are regularly considered the ‘lifeblood of the UK’s economy,’ with recent statistics showing that at the start of 2014, 5.2 million small businesses accounted for 47% of the UK private sector (Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2014). However, the marketing strategies for small and medium-sized businesses are often overlooked due to financial constraints. Both in terms of cost and reach, digital platforms provide an ideal venue to advertise and promote the product offerings and services of an SME. Part 3. Main Assignment Tasks (Detailed guidelines for the assignment tasks will be provided during the lectures and will also be made available on Blackboard): 1. Task 1: Introduction: Introduce the topic and provide a brief background of the selected company (critical; justify your choice). Propose SMART digital marketing objectives for the chosen company. 2. Task 2: Critique of Current Digital Marketing Strategy: Analyse the current digital marketing strategy employed by the company (i.e., social media marketing and the company’s website) using the theories and analytical tools learned in the module. 3. Task 3: Details of the Proposed Digital Marketing Strategy: Demonstrate the application of digital marketing theory to the selected company and provide recommendations for the most appropriate use of digital marketing. o Recommendation 1 o Recommendation 2 o Recommendation 3 4. Task 4: Reflection on Using Generative AI for Social Media Marketing (note: detailed guidelines for this task will be made available on Blackboard): Explore the practical applications and implications of using Generative AI, specifically ChatGPT, in social media marketing for the chosen company. This task involves creating social media content, using both ChatGPT and your own creativity. Focus on only one of the following options to complete this task: o Option 1: Social Media Post. Objective: To compare different approaches to creating a social media post for a chosen company, focusing on the same marketing communication objective. o Option 2: Managerial Response to an Online Negative Review. Objective: To compare different methods of crafting a managerial response to an online negative review for a chosen company, while maintaining a consistent approach to customer service and reputation management. Part 4. Assignment Structure: Your submission should be in a business report format, which means it must include the following sections: 1. Title Page: This should include the assessment title and your student number only. 2. Executive Summary: A brief overview of the report (maximum 300 words, excluded from the main word count). 3. Contents Page 4. Introduction (200 words) 5. Critique of Current Digital Marketing Strategy (900 words) 6. Details of the Proposed Digital Marketing Strategy (1000 words): o Recommendation 1 o Recommendation 2 o Recommendation 3 7. Reflection on Using Generative AI for Social Media Marketing (900 words) Part 5: Assessment formatting: • Font: Times New Roman, • size: 12 pt, • colour: black. • 1.5 line spacing. • Margins not less than 2.54 cm on left and 3 cm on the right. • All pages should be numbered. Part 6. Important Considerations: • DO NOT contact your chosen company, including interviewing the owners, any associated individuals, or customers/consumers, as this requires ethical approval. • The word count ONLY EXCLUDES the cover sheet, title page, executive summary, contents page, bibliography/reference list and appendices. EVERYTHING else including tables, graphs and diagrams, is included in the word count. • No more than a maximum of 5 appendices.
CEG8526: Hydrosystems modelling and management W2: Climate Modelling and Decision-making Under Uncertainty Aim and learning outcomes The purpose of this practical is to use some simple city-scale climate change information to understand the uncertain nature of future projections. The practical encourages you to think about the limitations of climate models and the challenges posed by uncertainty for real-world decision-making. After completing this practical you should be able to: • Explain how the uncertainties of climate model projections affect decision-making in hydrological applications • Identify additional information that would be required to aid decision-making • List at least three potential implications of your decision and ways in which the resultant risk can be managed Practical summary Climate models provide important information on future climate for use by planners, policy- makers and engineers. However, as discussed in the lecture, there is inherent uncertainty from several sources in the projections they provide. In this practical you will undertake a simplified decision-making scenario to highlight the implications of these uncertainties on real-world decisions. Task Imagine that you are an urban drainage engineer appointed to upgrade parts of the Victorian sewerage system of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. You are aware that heavy downpours in summer 2012 overwhelmed the sewers causing widespread flooding and disruption across the city. You also know that any new or upgraded infrastructure could be in place to the end of the 21st century and most possibly beyond. You know that the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) provides projections of future change in peak rainfall intensities that show changes to peak rainfall by management catchment. These are derived from the latest UK Climate Projections. The Environment Agency and Lead Local Flood Authorities use peak rainfall allowances to inform their advice on flood risk and drainage in their roles as statutory consultees. Allowances are included for two future time-frames, labelled 2050s and 2070s. It is recommended that you use the 2050s for development with a lifetime up to 2060 and use the 2070s for development with a lifetime between 2061 and 2125. The range of allowances included is based on percentiles. A percentile describes the proportion of possible scenarios that fall below an allowance level. The 50th percentile is the point at which half of the possible scenarios for peak flows fall below it, and half fall above it. The: • central allowance is based on the 50th percentile. • upper end allowance is based on the 95th percentile. This is a plausible consultancy project. Engineers and planners recognise that the climate does not stand still and that climate change safety margins need to be factored into long-lived infrastructure design, at least in the UK. But, is it reasonable to expect a high-resolution climate model to provide accurate predictions of extreme summer rainfall likelihoods for the 2080s at the city scale? Does the climate model even simulate realistic convective storms? How might the results change if different greenhouse gas emissions scenarios or climate models are used? Was the cost and time invested in producing the scenarios really worth it? These are some of the important questions being raised by both users and suppliers of high-resolution climate change scenarios. See information from previous lectures on climate modelling. What should the consultant engineer do about the state of the sewers in Newcastle? What advice should he/she give? There are basically four options. 1) Apply the same design event as in the past. This is the cheapest solution in the short- term but there is a risk of greater costs in the future if storms do become more intense. 2) Turn to the Environment Agency guidance on climate change allowances for flood risk assessments and look up the relevant climate change uplift factor. These have been derived from the output from very-high resolution convection permitting models. The guidance for the Tyne Management Catchment is shown in Figure 1. Now there is a danger of spending money unnecessarily on enlarging the drainage capacity if storm intensities do not change that much. 3) You take a more sophisticated approach by looking at the trade-off between the size of the adjustment for climate change and the cost of construction. (You might still end up choosing the most precautionary value (45%) because once the roads have been dug up the additional cost of wider diameter sewers is relatively low.) 4) You think about all the other ways of managing the surface runoff from source, such as green roofs, permeable parking areas, ponds and water retention features woven into the urban fabric. This seems an appealing option until you realise how many organisations would have to be involved and how long it would take to implement a joined-up action plan. Questions: 1) What solution(s) would you choose? 2) What are the uncertainties that make decision-making difficult? 3) What are the limitations in the information provided and the climate models used to produce them? 4) Is there any additional information (including non-climatic) that you would find useful for decision-making?
PY7001 Laboratory Experimental & Computational Component Module Credit: 20% Learning Outcomes: To understand: A) Particular and NOX Formation by studying the effect of: 1. Fuel mixture fraction on soot precursor production. (by Computation) 2. Fuel mixture fraction on flame temperature. (by Computation) 3. Flame temperature on NOx production. (by Computation) 4. Fuel composition on soot precursor production. (by Experiment & Computation) B) Burning Velocity & Flame Structure by studying the dependence of: 5. Laminar burning velocity on fuel mixture fraction. (by Computation) 6. Laminar burning velocity on fuel composition. (by Computation) 7. Flame structure vs. extent of reaction. (by Experiment & Computation) (using images of flame) C) Chemical Equilibrium by analysing how: 8. Thermodynamic equilibrium as an excellent approximation of burned gas composition and thermodynamic state. Reporting & Outputs: Compare the behaviour of Fuel #1 and Fuel #2 by creating: 1. Plots of equivalence ratio vs: a. Flame temperature. b. Soot precursors (C2H2, C6H6). c. NOX. d. Laminar burning velocity. 2. Plots of flame structure vs distance for two distinct equivalence ratios, showing: a. Reactants. b. Products. c. Molecular intermediates. d. Radical intermediates. e. Identify the burned gas and reaction zones. 3. Where appropriate, include the results of the equilibrium calculation on each chart above. 4. From the smoke point experiments you have conducted, create plots of fuel mixture fraction vs. smoke point and fuel mixture fraction vs. threshold sooting index. Discuss this data with regard to the pertinent aspects of learning outcomes A-C, including pertinent information derived from computation as appropriate. Discuss the major aspects of these plots and relate the observations to the molecular structure and molecular thermodynamic constants of the fuel, and fuel/air mixtures in question. Images of the smoke point flames will be provided. Relate these to your calculations by discussion. Your report should follow the form. of a published scientific paper to the highest professional standard of publication. Paper [7] or similar should be used as an example. Computational Methodology You will perform. computational experiments that simulate the combustion of a real liquid fuel at a range of operating conditions. The chemical kinetic model to be used contains 253 chemical species. (“253_NOx.yaml”) [6]. Two fuels will be used, n-decane and an n-decane/iso-octane/toluene mixture at mole fraction ratio 0.427/0.33/0.243, this mixture is a model fuel for jet aviation fuel. Cantera [1], a combustion kinetics solver, will be used to perform. the chemical kinetic calculations. Two python scripts will be provided. One simulates a freely propagating laminar flame and the other calculates gaseous mixture chemical equilibrium. You will run these scripts at different initial conditions (fuel composition, temperature, pressure, fuel mixture fraction) to meet the objectives above. Each script. produces an excel spreadsheet containing a description of the gaseous mixture at each time/position point of the simulation. From these outputs the above graphs can be plotted, and the effect of the operating conditions analysed. Note: Freely propagating flame simulations can take several hours to complete. As such each student will be assigned two operating conditions at which they will perform. a calculation. The excel outputs will be pooled in a google drive. You will perform. your analysis individually on this cumulative data collection. Logistics You are requested to download python (PyCharm [4] recommended), anaconda [5] and then install Cantera. The python scripts are available for download from the google drive here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10CIN6T0ZYkL7DLmY_npu-FekcTSyVtRb?usp=sharing Computational Task Assignment References & Further Reading [1] Cantera https://cantera.org/. [2] Chemkin Manual - R.J. Kee, F.M. Rupley, J.A. Miller, M.E. Coltrin, J.F. Grcar, E. Meeks, H.K. Moffat, A.E. Lutz, G. Dixon-Lewis, M.D. Smooke, J. Warnatz, G.H. Evans, R.S. Larson, R.E., Mitchell, L.R. Petzold, W.C. Reynolds, M. Caracotsios, W.E. Stewart, P. Glarborg, C. Wang, O. Adigun, W.G. Houf, C.P. Chou, S.F. Miller. [3] PyCharm https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/download/#section=windows [4] Anaconda https://docs.anaconda.com/anaconda/install/windows/ [5] Glassman I, Yetter RA, Glumac NG, editors. Combustion (Fifth Edition). Boston: Academic Press; 2015. Chapters 1-4. [6] Dooley S, Won SH, Chaos M, Heyne J, Ju Y, Dryer FL, et al. A jet fuel surrogate formulated by real fuel properties. Combustion and Flame. 2010 (157) 2333-2339. [7] Dooley S, Uddi M, Won SH, Dryer FL, Ju Y, Methyl butanoate inhibition of n-heptane diffusion flames through an evaluation of transport and chemical kinetics, Combustion and Flame 159 (4) 1371-1384.
HUDM 5123 - Linear Models and Experimental Design HW 06 Random and Nested Factors Instructions. ● Unless otherwise noted, assignments are due before the next lab class (i.e., in a week). ● You are encouraged to discuss problems with classmates, but all work you submit must be your own. ● If applicable, any plots should have appropriate axis and overall labels. ● In general, do not include computer output (either SPSS or R) in your write-up. Instead, summarize relevant points using text, tables, or plots. ● When in doubt about formatting issues (e.g., for references, tables, notes, etc.), use APA style. Data. Two datasets were uploaded, "HW6_data_Item1.sav" and "HW6_data_Item2.sav" . Task. For each dataset, 1. Describe whether each factor should be treated as a xed or a random factor, and explain why. 2. Anlyaze the data with the appropriate model. 3. Interpret your findings. Study Design for Item 1. Suppose that a psychologist wants to evaluate the e ectiveness of biofeedback for treating hypertension, that is, for lowering blood pressure. The psycholo- gist designed a study with two groups: biofeedback training and no biofeedback. The study was implemented by three di erent research assistants. Each individual selected to partici- pate in the study were randomly assigned to work with one of the research assistants. All the inidviduals working with each research assistant were randomly assigned to one of the treatment groups: biofeedback or no biofeedback. Y: blood pressure measure, BloodPressure Factor A: biofeedback, biofeed Factor B: research assistant, RA Study Design for Item 2. : A researcher recruited 9 experienced clinicians to deliver one of three forms of psychotherapy, individual, group, or conjoint therapy, to clients diagnosed with an a ective, anxiety, adjustment, or personality disorder. Several instruments administered at termination of treatment following at least six therapy sessions were combined into a composite score of patient distress, with higher scores indicating greater distress. Assume the scores are the composite scores obtained at termination on seven clients seen by each of these nine therapists Y: the composite score, composite Factor A: treatment methods, modality Factor B: therapist, therapist
0201E301 Introduction to Econometrics 2024 Course Description This course is an introduction to applied methods for analyzing economic and financial data. Areas of focus will include cross section data, time series data, regression analysis, hypothesis testing, and applied topics in economics with an emphasis on applications. Required Textbook(s) James H. Stock, Mark W. Watson. Introduction to Econometrics, Pearson, 3rd Edition, ISBN:9780133595420 Prerequisites 0201E101 Microeconomics, 0201E102 Macroeconomics ，0701S201 Introduction to Statistics and 0701M110 Calculus I Course Schedule Please note that the schedule is meant to give an overview of the major concepts this course. Changes may occur in this calender as needed to aid in the student`s development. Week 1 l Course Introduction l Chapter 1. Economic Questions and Data l Chapter 2. Review of Probability l Chapter 3. Review of Statistics Week 2 l Chapter 4. Linear Regression with One Regressor l Chapter 5. Regression with a Single Regressor: Hypothesis Tests and Confidence Intervals Week 3 l Chapter 6. Linear Regression with Multiple Regressors l Chapter 7. Hypothesis Tests and Confidence Intervals in Multiple Regression l Mid-term Exam Week 4 l Chapter 8. Nonlinear Regression Functions l Chapter 9. Assessing Studies Based on Multiple Regression Week 5 l Chapter 10. Regression with Panel Data l Chapter 12. Instrumental Variables Regression l Final Exam Course Requirements 1. Class Conduct: Consistent, respectful and informed participation is expected from every student in the course. 2. I will respond to emails in a timely manner. It is best to make an appointment or speak to me after lecture. Grading Policy Quizzes For this five-week course, there will be a quiz on the Monday of the first, second and fourth week. Each Quiz is worth 10%. Exams Exam 1 will be held on the Friday of Week 3. Exam 2 will be held on the Friday of Week 5. Each Exam is worth 20%. Assignment Homework will be assigned by the professor in class. This will take 20% of the final grade. Grading Scale The instructor will use the grading system as applied by JNU:
Math10 Final Exam For each multiple choice question, identify the correct letter. For each numerical response question, record your answer. Use this information to answer #1. A beginning skier practises by making turns around flags on a ski hill. The flags are spaced 2 m apart. 1. If there are 8 flags, what is the approximate distance that the skier travelled, to the nearest foot? A 42 ft B 46 ft C 48 ft D 52 ft 2. A trail map for a wall in the ski patrol of" ce is 8 2/1 ft long. If 7 in. of white border needs to be cut off, what is the " nal length of the trail map? A 7′11″ B 7′5 ″ C 87 ″ D 84 ″ Use this information to answer #3. A ski hill has a slope of 20/7. 3. What is the vertical distance, v ? A 40 m B 110 m C 280 m D 320 m Use this information to answer #4. A krumkake is a Norwegian cookie sold in ski resorts. It is baked in a krumkake iron and then rolled around a wooden cone. The cone has a diameter of 2 in. and a slant height of 6 in. The cookie covers only the lateral surface and not the circular base of the cone. 4. What is the minimum amount of cookie dough needed to cover the lateral surface of the cone, to the nearest square inch? A 19 in.2 B 21 in.2 C 29 in.2 D 30 in.2 Use this information to answer #5. At a winter sports event, one ice sculpture shaped like a hemisphere has a radius of 2.8 m. 5. What is the volume of the ice sculpture, to the nearest cubic metre? A 46 m3 B 49 m3 C 92 m3 D 98 m3 Use this information to answer #6 to 8. Freestyle. skiers train by skiing up a specially constructed ramp toward a jump. The ramp can be lengthened, creating two right triangles. 6. What is the height of the short ski ramp, x, to the nearest inch? A 6 in. B 9 in. C 14 in. D 16 in. 7. What is the measure of ∠θ, to the nearest degree? A 30° B 35° C 55° D 60° Numerical Response 8. What is the length of the long ramp, y, to the nearest inch? Use this information to answer #9. Satellites transmit sports events around the world. When a satellite is h kilometres above Earth, the time, t, in minutes, that it takes to complete one orbit is given by the formula 9. How long would it take a satellite that is 28 km above Earth to orbit our planet twice? Express the answer to the nearest minute. A 66 min B 85 min C 132 min D 170 min Use this information to answer #10. Circles are painted into the ice surface of a rink for a curling bonspiel. 10. Which algebraic expression represents the surface area of the shaded region? A 4πr C π(4r2 – 4) B 4π(r – 1) D π(4r2 – r + 40) Use this information to answer #11 and 12. The manager of a snack bar in the ski chalet used a table of values to determine how many people (p) need to buy each of two types of sausages for the costs (C) of the sausages to be equal. Numerical Response 11. How many customers for sausages are needed for the costs to be the same? 12. Which system of equations representsthe table of values? A C1 = 2/–1p – 4 B C1 = 2/–1p + 4 C2 = 4/–3p – 5 C2 = 4/–3p + 5 C C1 = 2/1p – 4 D C1 = 2/1p + 4 C2 = 4/3p – 5 C2 = 4/3p + 5 Use this information to answer #13 and 14. The cross-country ski team stores ski waxes in a box. 13. What is the simpli" ed expression for the volume of the box? A x(4x + 1)(3x + 2) B 7x2 + 3x3 C (3x3 + 2x)(4x + 1) D 12x3 + 11x2 + 2x Numerical Response 14. If x = 20 cm, what is the volume of the box, to the nearest tenth of a cubic metre? Use this information to answer #15. Short track speed skaters train on an oval ice rink. 15. What are the domain and the range of the oval? A domain: x = – 4, 3; range: y = 4, –2 B domain: [– 4, 3]; range: [4, –2] C domain: {x | – 4 ≤ x ≤ 3; x ∈R}; range {y | –2 ≤ y ≤ 4; y ∈R} D domain: {– 4, 3}; range: {4, –2} 16. Which graph of a relation is not a function? 17. The general form. of a line is given as 3x + 6y + 12 = 0. What are the intercepts? A The x-intercept is – 4. The y-intercept is –2. B The x-intercept is –3. The y-intercept is –6. C The x-intercept is 3. The y-intercept is 6. D The x-intercept is 4. The y-intercept is 2. Use this information to answer #18 and 19. The factor tree shows the prime factorization of x. 18. What is the value of x3/1? A 2 B 3 C 6 D 9 Numerical Response 19. What is the value of x? 20. Simplify, then evaluate [(4/3)-5 ÷ (4/3)3]-1. A (4/3)8/1 B 4/3 C 16/9 D 10/1 Use this diagram to answer #21. 21. Which of the following square roots of perfect squares is represented by the shaded region? A 2 B 5 C 7 D 9 Numerical Response 22. If p(x) = 2x3 + x2 – 5x + 3, what is the value of p(–2)? Use this key to interpret the algebra tile models in #23. The same tiles unshaded represent negative quantities. 23. Which model represents the product of (x + 4)(x +2)? 24. Given the linear equation y = 2x + 7, which of the following statements is correct? A The linear function f (x) = 2x + 1 is parallel to y = 2x + 7. B The line joining (–2, 3) and (0, 4) is parallel to y = 2x + 7. C The slope of a line perpendicular to y = 2x + 7 is m = –2. D The y-intercept of y = 2x + 7 is 2. 25. Amelie simpli" ed (x + a)(x + b), where a and b are > 0, to the form. x2 + mx + n. Which statement about m and n is true? A m < 0 and n > 0 B m < 0 and n < 0 C m > 0 and n < 0 D m > 0 and n > 0 Use this number line to answer #26. 26. Which of the following correctly describes the number line? A {n | –1 ≤ n ≤ 5, n ∈R} B {n | –1 < n < 5, n ∈I} C [–1, 5], n ∈I D {–3, –2, –1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5} Use this number line to answer #27. 27. Which of the following correctly describes the number line? A – 6 < x < 4 B – 6 ≤ x < 4 C [– 6, 4] D (– 6, 4) 28. What is √48 as an equivalent mixed radical? A 4 √6 B 4 √3 C 4 3√3 D 2 √3 29. What is (3a2 ) 3 (4a3 ) 0 simplified? A 9a6 B 27a6 C 36a8 D 108a9 30. Which ordered pair represents f (7) = –3? A (–7, 3) B (–3, 7) C (3, 7) D (7, –3) 31. What is the equation y = 7/x – 6 expressed in general form? A x – 7y – 6 = 0 B x – 7y – 42 = 0 C 7x – y – 6 = 0 D 7x – 7y – 42 = 0 32. Which expression represents (4x – 5)2 expanded and simpli" ed? A 16x2 + 25 B 16x2 – 25 C 16x2 + 40x + 25 D 16x2 – 40x + 25 Use this information to answer #33. Melanie expanded and simplified (x – 2)(x2 + 4x + 4). Her work was as follows: (x – 2)(x2 + 4x + 4) = x (x2 + 4x + 4) – 1(x2 + 4x + 4) Step 1 = x3 + 4x2 + 4x – x2 + 4x + 4 Step 2 = x3 + 3x2 + 8x2 + 4 Step 3 = x3 + 11x2 + 4 Step 4 33. Melanie has errors in A Step 1 and Step 2 B Step 1 and Step 4 C Step 1, Step 2, and Step 3 D Step 1, Step 3, and Step 4 34. Which set of numbers has rational numbers only? A 2/–1 6.9 √25 B 2/1 –6 2/√3 C –3 4.17 4.121 314 15... D √11 3 √7 π Use this information to answer #35 to 37. Numerical Response 35. What is the length of side AD, to the nearest tenth? Numerical Response 36. The exact length of side EB can be written in the form. x √y . What is the value of y ? 37. The ratio for cos ∠B is A 42/√20 B 4/2 C 2/√3 D √12/4 38. A right pyramid fits exactly into a cube with edge length 5 cm. Suppose that the dimensions of the solids are doubled. By what factor would the volumes of the pyramid and the cube increase? A 2 B 4 C 6 D 8 Use this information to answer #39 and 40. Safe Transport has a fleet of delivery trucks. Two trucks leave the truck yard at the same time. Truck A travels north at 40 km/h and Truck B travels east at 60 km/h. Numerical Response 39. How far apart are the two trucks after 1 h, to the nearest kilometre? 40. The shortest distance from a point to a line can be determined by drawing a perpendicular line. If the slope of the line shown is –2/3, what is the equation of the perpendicular line through the point at the truck yard? A y = 3/–2x + 20 B y = 2/–3 x + 20 C y = 2/3x + 20 D y = x + 20 Use this information to answer #41. The U Move company’s daily revenue can be represented by the function R(t) = 210t – 550, where t represents the number of trucks rented. 41. To ensure U Move earns daily revenue, what is the minimum number of trucks that must be rented? A {t | t ≥ 3, t ∈I} B {t | t > 3, t ∈R} C {t | t ≤ 3, t ∈R} D {t | t < 3, t ∈I} Use this information to answer #42. The owner of U Move decided to expand the truck yard. He purchased three smaller square " elds, each with area A, and two larger square " elds, each with area B. 42. Which simpli" ed radical represents length l ? A 5 √AB B 5 √A +B C 3 √A + 2 √B D √3A + 2B Use this information to answer #43 and 44. U Move sends out a ! yer advertising cardboard boxes. The dimensions of the storage compartment in a U Move truck are shown. 43. The correct order of the boxes from least to greatest volume is A 1, 2, 3, 4 B 2, 1, 3, 4 C 4, 2, 1, 3 D 4, 3, 2, 1 44. If only one type of box is used to " ll the truck, which one will waste the least amount of space? A Box 1 B Box 2 C Box 3 D Box 4 Use this information to answer #45. A truck repair business uses a laser beam security system. Numerical Response 45. What angle does the laser beam form. with the garage oor, to the nearest degree? Written Response You will need one sheet of grid paper. Use this information to answer #46a) and b). Marmot Basin ski resort in Jasper, Alberta, has the longest high-speed quad chair in the Canadian Rockies. The Canadian Rockies Express takes skiers up a vertical height of 600 m in 8 min. Use this information to answer #46c). Jim is on a ! at part of the ski hill looking up at the chairlift passing overhead. 46. a) Assume that the quad chair moves at a constant speed. What is the rate of change for height and time? b) Sketch the shape of the graph representing the relationship between height and time. c) How far apart are the chairs, to the nearest foot? Justify your answer mathematically Use this graph to answer #47. Kelly is driving home from a figure skating event. The graph represents changes in speed during the trip. 47. Describe a possible reason for the changes in speed at each stage. Use this information to answer #48. A company introduces a new product, B2, which it expects will sell well. The company plans to discontinue selling an older product, B1, over a short period of time. Assume that the daily sales of both products are constant. The situation can be represented using a system of linear equations. B1: 3m + 2/3P = 6 B2: P = 3m – 1 In the equations, P represents pro" t, in thousands of dollars, and m represents the number of months of sales. Use this information to answer #48e). In his " rst attempts, the business manager records the following systems of equations to represent the two products. Trial 1 B1: 2/–3m = –3P + 4.5 B2: 2m – 4P = – 6 Trial 2 B1: 3m = 5/6P + 2 B2: 5/1P = 2/1m –3/2 48. a) Solve the system graphically. Label the lines as B1 and B2. b) Verify your solution algebraically. c) After how many months can product B1 be discontinued? d) Explain the meaning of the y-intercept for B2. e) The manager realizes that these systems of equations do not provide the needed solutions. Explain how many solutions each system has. Give a reason why the solutions cannot be applied to new product sales. 49. Simplify. Show your work. 50. Simplify. Show your work. 51. Evaluate. 52.Mason had $40 in his bank account when he started to save $15 each week. a) Write an equation to represent the total amount, A dollars, he had in his account after w weeks. b) After how many weeks did Mason have $355 in his account? c) Suppose you graphed the equation you wrote in part a. What would the slope and the vertical intercept of the graph represent? 53.Write an equation for the line that passes through each pair of points. Describe your strategy. i) G (– 3, – 7) and H(1, 5) ii) J(– 3, 3) and K(5, – 1) 54.Two families went on a traditional nuuchahnulth dugout canoe tour in Tofino harbour, B.C. One family paid $220 for 5 people. The other family paid $132 for 3 people. a) Choose variables, then write an equation for the cost as a function of the number of people. b) What is the cost per person? How can you determine this from the equation? c) A third family paid $264. How many people went on the tour? 55. The total revenue from sales of ski jackets can be modelled by the expression Revenue R = 720 + 4x − 2x2 , where x represents the number of jackets sold above the minimum needed to break even. Revenue is also calculated as the product of the number of jackets sold and the price per jacket. Factor the given expression to determine the number sold and the price per jacket. The minimum price of a jacket is $18. Hint: As the price increases, the number sold decreases. 56.A square has an area of 9x2 + 30xy + 25y 2 square centimetres. What is the perimeter of the square? 57.Which sets of ordered pairs represent linear relations? Explain your answers. a) {(1, 5), (5, 5), (9, 5), (13, 5)} b){(1, 2), (1, 4), (1, 6), (1, 8)} c){(– 2, – 3), (– 1, – 2), (2, 1), (4, – 3)} 58. A fire ranger is at the top of a 90-ft. observation tower. She observes smoke due east at an angle of depression of 5° and due west at an angle of depression of 4°. How far apart are the fires to the nearest foot? The diagram is not drawn to scale. 59. Carl is standing 10 km from town A and 10 km from town B. From where he stands, the angle between the two towns is 37o .A new hotel has just been built on the road connecting town A and town B, exactly halfway between the two towns. From where Carl is standing, he sees that the angle of elevation to the top of the hotel is 1o . Determine the height of the hotel to one decimal place. Include a diagram with your solution. 60. Drew θ = 260° in standard position. What is its reference angle? 61. Given cosθ = − 7/4, in quadrant 3, what is the exact value of tanθ? 62. Let (−8,1) be a point on the terminal arm of δ, 0 ° ≤ δ < 360° . a) State sinδ, as an exact value. b) Determine δ. 63. Kelly observes the top of a hill at an angle of elevation of 40° . He then walks 100m closer and observes the summit at an angle of elevation of 50° . Determine the height of the hill. 64. Jill is in a hot air balloon 350m above the ground. She notes that the angle of depression to a distant home is 25° . From this same home, Jack sees Jill’s balloon and a cloud, directly above Jill. He measures the angle of elevation to the cloud at 42° . How long would it take for Jill to reach the cloud if she is ascending at 2 m/s? 65. Given an arithmetic sequence with S5 = 130 and t7 = 14, algebraically determine d. 66. Evaluate 59 + 78 + 97 + ⋯ + 1617 67. For a given arithmetic series, the sum of the first 50 terms is 200 and the sum of the next 50 terms is 2700.Determine the first term.
CURRENT ISSUES IN ACCOUNTING Answer any TWO questions Question 1 If tax avoidance is legal, why do governments put measures in place to try to prevent it? In your answer to the above question, critically evaluate the changing attitudes to tax avoidance and the likely success of government measures to combat it. [50 marks] Question 2 Briefly explain what is meant by the ‘practice-relevance’ of management accounting. Discuss the barriers contributing to a ‘research-practice gap’ in management accounting, and explain how and whether it might be possible to bridge this gap. [50 marks] Question 3 Shank describes Michael Porter’s Value chain as ‘the linked set of value-creating activities all the way from basic raw material sources for component suppliers through to the ultimate end-user product delivered into the final customer’s hands’ (Shank, 1989, p.50) Discuss to what extent Porter’s Value Chain can help in securing competitive advantage within an organisation and evaluate the contribution that management accountants can make to the analysis of the Value Chain. [50 marks] Question 4 Discuss the role of management control systems in relation to the effective implementation of strategy. Explain how traditional control tools such as budgeting can be adapted to contribute more effectively to the implementation of strategy. [50 marks] Question 5 a) Outline the benefits of using private finance to fund public sector projects. [15 marks] b) New Public Management (NPM) has promoted the adoption of private sector management practices in the public sector and places a strong emphasis on performance management. Using your knowledge of systems of performance management in the public sector, discuss the effectiveness or otherwise of this philosophy. [35 marks] Question 6 “The ERM approach seeks to link risk management with business strategy and objective-setting, entering the domains of control, accountability and decision making” - (Arena et al., 2010) Outline the ‘Enterprise Risk Management’ (ERM) approach and use examples to critically evaluate the effectiveness of risk management in practice. [50 marks]
COMP0035 Coursework 02 specification 1. Table of contents Introduction Coursework specification General requirements and constraints Getting started Coursework content Submission Marking Module learning outcomes Mark allocation Grading criteria Appendices Guidance on Moodle Code quality Code that does not fully function Version: 2.0. 19/11/24 Summary of changes: • Version 2.0: Explicit statement that exclude the use of Jupyter notebook files. 2. Introduction The aim of the combined coursework in this module is for you to select and apply some of the relevant software development and data science techniques that are used in a typical project lifecycle. Coursework 1 focused on data preparation and database design. Coursework 2 continues from coursework 1, focusing on requirements analysis, design, and testing. In coursework 2 you will design a web application that centres on the use of the database that you prepared in coursework 1. You will need to come up an idea of the application to develop based on the data. You will submit a single written document (report) and a repository of code files that combined meet the requirements detailed in the “Coursework Content” section. You should make progress each week of term. There are weekly activities and checkpoints in Moodle. For IEP minor students, the application that you design in this coursework will be developed and tested in COMP0034 in Term 2. 3. Coursework specification 3.1. General requirements and constraints • Compile all written work into a single report in either PDF or Markdown format. Name the document coursework2. • There are no word limits; though the report is not an essay, so be succinct. Use relevant diagrams. • Continue to use the repository you created for coursework 1. Keep the repository private. Keep the repository in the ucl-comp0035 organisation. • You must use the data set allocated to you on Moodle. • This is an individual coursework. Do not collude with other students using the same data set. • Use of code AI tools is permitted. UCL recommends using Microsoft Copilot (https:// liveuclac.sharepoint.com/sites/Office365/SitePages/Bing-Enterprise-Chat.aspx) using your UCL credentials. This must be stated in the ‘References’ section. • Use relevant techniques from the course, or from data science and/or software engineering processes. Provide references for techniques not included in the course material. • Diagrams can be hand-drawn and scanned. Using software to draw them does not increase marks. • Python code must be submitted as python files (.py). Jupyter notebook files are not appropriate or acceptable for this coursework. 3.2. Getting started Continue using the same GitHub repository that you used for coursework 1. Continue to use the same data that you used for coursework 1. Before you start, you need to come up with an idea of the application to develop based on the database you designed in coursework 1. Any idea, so long as it uses the data in some way, is acceptable. You can include features in the app that collect data for new entities and attributes. These are some of the apps previous students’ have designed: • Employment data: web app for job-seekers to search for job adverts as well as charts based on the data. Employers could post job adverts. • Film box office data: web app for movie enthusiasts with functions to search for movies and exchange comments on them (blog/comment feature). • House sales data: web app for potential homebuyers and sellers that deployed a machine learning model that predicted house prices for different house sizes in areas of London. • Volcano eruptions data: a web app that showed map with volcano locations and provided pages with info related to the activity of each and integrated a news feed API to provide relevant stories. • Cherry tree flowering in Kyoto: a web app that allowed researchers to get a prediction about the future dates that the cherry trees would flower, and provided an admin interface to manage the data set. • Emissions data: a web app for London residents to check on the air quality in different areas of London. Avoid features that require login/authentication unless it is essential to enable the app’s behaviour. Authentication is well documented and easy to copy, so lacks challenge as an app feature to design. Machine learning (ML) is not taught in COMP0034. Previous students who designed apps with machine learning already knew how to create the models. You are welcome to design a feature based on an ML model if you have the knowledge to do so. 3.3. Coursework content This lists the sections to be included in the coursework: 1. Requirements analysis 2. Design (interface, application and database) 3. Testing (query code and unit tests) 4. References (references, statement of AI use, dataset attribution) The content for sections 1, 2 and 4 must be combined in a single report. The content for section 3 will be in code files. Section 1: Requirements analysis The purpose of this section is to demonstrate that you can apply relevant software engineering techniques to define a product; and capture, document and prioritise requirements. Section 1.1: Overview of the product and who will use it Select and apply appropriate techniques to provide an overview of the app you will design, and who is intended to use it (i.e. the target audience). Section 1.2: Prioritised requirements Select and apply techniques that document the requirements for the app. The requirements describe what the app should do, and any constraints on how it should operate. Document the requirements using a relevant software engineering format, e.g. User Stories. Include the prioritisation of each requirement. Section 2: Design The purpose of this section is to demonstrate that you can apply relevant design techniques to describe the structure to the proposed Python web application. Produce diagrams that represent the design of your application’s interface and application logic. Review your database design (ERD) from coursework 1. The design should cover most of the requirements that you documented in section 1.2 - there may be lower priority requirements that you do not consider. Section 2.1: Interface design The “interface” is the web pages that the intended audience will use in the app. Design the structure of the interface as wireframes. Focus on the requirements and the data that needs to be presented or captured in each “page” or “view” in the interface. Do not consider visual aspects such as colours, fonts, etc. Section 2.2: Application design Design the application logic i.e. the Python package(s), module(s), functions and classes. Do not write the Python code, the design should be a diagram. Section 2.3: Database design You designed a database in coursework 1 and drew this as an Entity Relationship Diagram. Review the design against your requirements. If changes are required, update the ERD. Include the ERD from coursework 1 and if you made changes, the revised version for coursework 2 in the report. Section 3: Testing The primary purpose of this section is to demonstrate that you can write and run unit tests using pytest. A secondary assessment objective is to demonstrate that you can write SQL queries as Python code. Section 3.1 Write Python code to run database queries Write Python code to execute 6 SQL queries that interact with the database you have designed. You can either use the database you created in coursework 1, or use an updated version based on the design you created for section 2.3. Aim to provide at least one of each type of query if possible: 1. A query that selects data from a table 2. A query that adds data to a table 3. A query that deletes a row of data from a table 4. A query that amends an existing row of data in a table Try to structure the code as Python functions (or Python class with methods). Section 3.2 Unit testing Unit test the database query code. Use the pytest library. Write 2 unit tests for each of the 6 queries. To run the tests, the marker requires that your code be installed used pip install -e . and the marker will run the tests using pythom -m pytest. If you wish the tests to be run using a different command, please provide the command in the report. Make sure that you: • update requirements .txt by adding pytest and any other python libraries used • update pyproject .toml so that your test directory and your coursework2 code directory can be located by pytest Code quality is considered. Optionally, consider reporting and commenting on test coverage; and/or automating the running of the unit tests in a GitHub Actions workflow. Section 4: References Include code references in comments the code files close to where it is used. Include all other references, if used, in the report. Section 4.1: Use of AI State either that you used AI, or state that you did not. If you used AI, include the details stated in the UCL guidance (https://library-guides.ucl.ac.uk/ referencing-plagiarism/acknowledging-AI#s-lg-box-wrapper-19164308). Section 4.2: Dataset attribution Include a statement to acknowledge your dataset (attribution) to comply with any license condition required for your data set (given in the data set link in Moodle > Resources > Data sets). Each license is different and tells you what has to be cited; e.g. see open government licence v3 (https:// www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/). 3.4. Submission Refer to Moodle > Assessment for the deadline date and time. Submit your work on Moodle as a single .zip in the assignment submission. GitHub is not an acceptable alternative for submission. However, it allows you to download files as a .zip file, this .zip file can then be uploaded to Moodle. Make sure all files are in the zip. URLs linking to external files cannot be marked as they could be changed after the submission time. DO NOT include your virtual environment, e.g. .venv, folder in the zip file, this creates unnecessarily large zip files. Table: Submission checklist requirements .txt pyproject .toml README .md
MSc Light & Lighting 2024–2025 Coursework BENV0062: Reflective report Learning Outcomes • Understanding daylighting design aims and strategies as realised in practice. • Understanding and communicating the design synergies and trade-offs between daylighting design and other building design considerations, including electrical lighting. • Carrying out on-site data collection and desktop studies along with applying performance simulation skills to analyse and evaluate daylighting design of a building (or a key space of a building). • Communicating your research and key aspects of daylighting design. Brief You are asked to describe, analyse, and evaluate the daylighting design of a building (or a key space of a building) which interests you in an illustrated report. The building may be historical or contemporary. As you develop your report, you should address the topics covered in the BENV0062 Module and consider different stages of work for a typical project involving preparation and briefing, concept design, spatial coordination, technical design, and manufacturing and construction. The report should show evidence of research into the subject and demonstrate how the building addressed the challenges of daylighting design. References, materials, and sources must be properly acknowledged, and image/data sources credited. The report must be appropriately illustrated with images, technical drawings, and data. You should take the opportunity to present the work in a way that supports the character of the building. The report should be up to 3000 words (not including bibliography and reference list) in pdf format; title page to include Module number, title of the work, candidate code and statement of word count. The document is to be uploaded to Moodle by the submission deadline specified below. The submission will be run through Turnitin to check for plagiarism. Also, note that, regarding the use of AI tools, this coursework falls into Category 2. That means, AI tools can be used in an assistive role. Marking Criteria and Weightings 1. Understanding case study building relevant context and design intent and establishing the aim and scope of reflective report (15%) 2. Understanding building integrated daylighting design and analysis of adopted daylighting design strategies (30%) 3. Daylighting design assessment based on documented method and specific criteria (30%) 4. Building daylighting design evaluation and research conclusion based on obtained evidence and conducted assessments (15%) 5. Presentation (10%)
BUSI4402-E1 A LEVEL 4 MODULE, AUTUMN SEMESTER 2023-2024 BUSI4402 CORPORATE FINANCIAL STRATEGY Answer any ONE question The maximum number of words is 750 (excluding tables and charts) Answer ONE question Each question is worth 100 marks Question 1 1 a) Johnson Electronics PLC is listed in the FTSE 100 index and has both equity and debt financing on its balance sheet at a ratio of 1:1. The firm has an BBB+ credit rating from S&P Global Ratings. The firm’s cost of debt is 12% and the credit risk premium on this debt is 2%. In recent years Johnson’s stock has outperformed or underperformed the FTSE 100 index’s risk premium by a factor of 1.5. The return on the FTSE 100 index has averaged 18% over the last 5 years. As an equity analyst you have been tasked to provide the following information as well as including a brief explanation for each answer to the head of equity investments of your bank: i) Johnson’s cost of equity. ii) The beta of Johnson’s debt. iii) The beta of Johnson’s assets. iv) Johnson’s cost of capital (20%) b) Johnson is concerned about the impact its level of leverage is having on its credit rating and has decided to reduce its debt to equity ratio to 30:70. The CFO of Johnson believes that this strategy will reduce its cost of debt by 1 percentage point. i) Briefly explain how Johnson might reduce its leverage ratio? (5%) ii) Provide an explanation for why a lower leverage ratio could reduce the company’s cost of debt? (5%) iii) Calculate the impact this change in financial structure will have on the firm’s cost of equity, debt beta, asset beta and its WACC. Explain your answers. (20%) c) “A company can incur costs of financial distress without ever going bankrupt.” Explain how this can happen. Provide a real-world example of a firm facing these types of costs. (15%) d) Explain the term credit market conditions (CMC)? What is the current state of CMC in the UK? Use diagrams to explain your answer. (15%) e) In the last few months, we have seen the highest levels of interest rates in the UK since before the global financial crisis. What impact has this had on firms cost of capital? Explain your answer. What strategies might CFOs and/or firms adopt in response to an expectation of rising interest rates? Do rising interest rates affect all firms in the same way? Explain you answer. (20%) Question 2 2. Abigail Grace has a £900,000 fully diversified portfolio. She subsequently inherits ABC Company shares worth £100,000. Her financial adviser provided her with the following forecast information: Risk and Return Characteristics Expected Monthly Returns Standard Deviation of Monthly Returns Original Portfolio 0.67% 2.37% ABC Company 1.25 2.95 The correlation coefficient of ABC stock returns with the original portfolio returns is 0.40. a) The inheritance changes Grace’s overall portfolio and she is deciding whether to keep the ABC stock. Assuming Grace keeps the ABC stock. i) Calculate the expected return of her new portfolio which includes the ABC stock. ii) Briefly explain the term covariance in the context of portfolio risk and explain how it is measured. Calculate the covariance of ABC stock returns with the original portfolio returns. iii) Calculate the standard deviation of her new portfolio, which includes the ABC stock. iv) Where will the new portfolio lie compared to the original portfolio in the risk- return space? What explains this result? Should Grace keep ABC stock? (5+10+10+10=35%) b) If Grace sells the ABC stock, she will invest the proceeds in risk-free government securities yielding a return of 0.42% monthly. Assuming Grace sells the ABC stock and replaces it with the government securities. i) Calculate the expected return of her new portfolio, which includes the government securities. ii) Calculate the covariance of the government security returns with the original portfolio returns. Explain your answer. iii) Standard deviation of her new portfolio, which includes the government securities. iv) Compare the risk of this portfolio with that of the portfolio in question 2a. Explain your answer. v) If you were her financial advisor, would you recommend that she sells ABC stock and invest the funds into government securities? Explain your answer. (25%) c) On the basis of conversations with her husband, Grace is considering selling the $100,000 of ABC stock and acquiring $100,000 of XYZ Company shares instead. XYZ stock has the same expected return and standard deviation as ABC stock. Her husband comments, “It doesn’t matter whether you keep all of the ABC stock or replace it with $100,000 of XYZ stock.” State whether her husband’s comment is correct or incorrect. Explain your response. (10%) d) The return on the risk-free asset is 5%. You are given the following information: Security E(R) -% SD -% Correlation with Market portfolio Beta Firm A 10 31 ? .85 Firm B 14 ? .50 1.40 Firm C 16 65 .35 ? Market portfolio 12 20 1 1 i) What is the correlation between security A and the market portfolio? ii) What is the standard deviation of security B? iii) What is the beta of security C? Give an interpretation of its value? iv) Is the stock of Firm A correctly priced according to the capital asset pricing model (CAPM)? What about the stock of Firm C? If these securities are not correctly priced, what is your investment recommendation for someone with a well-diversified portfolio? (30%)
Module Code: MAN00107M Module Title: Management, Governance and Society Open/Closed Assessment: Open Essay Maximum Word Count: 2500 Release Date: October 2024 Submission Deadline: 11am, Thursday 16th January 2025 Weighting: 70% Important information A penalty of five marks will be deducted for late submissions that are made within the first hour after the deadline. Submissions that are more than one hour late but within the first 24 hours of the deadline will incur a penalty of ten marks. After the first 24 hours have passed, ten marks will be deducted for every 24 hours (or part thereof) that the submission is late for a total of 5 days. After 5 days it is treated as a non-submission and given a mark of zero. The consequences of non-submission are serious and can include de-registration from the University. If you are unable to complete your open assessment by the submission date indicated above because of Exceptional Circumstances you can apply for an extension. If unforeseeable and exceptional circumstances do occur, you must seek support and provide evidence as soon as possible at the time of the occurrence. Applications must be made before the deadline to be considered. Full details of the Exceptional Circumstances Policy and claim form. can be found here: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/progress/exceptional-circumstances If you submit your open assessment on time but feel that your performance has been affected by Exceptional Circumstances you may submit an Exceptional Circumstances Affecting Assessment claim form. by 7 days from the published assessment submission deadline. If you do not submit by the deadline indicated without good reason your claim will not be considered. Please take proper precautions to safeguard your work and remember to make backup copies of your data. The University provides all its students with storage space on the University server and you should save and back up any work in progress on this server on a regular basis. Computer failure and theft of your equipment or storage media are not considered exceptional circumstances and extensions cannot be granted for work lost for these reasons. Word count requirements The word count for this assignment is 2500 words. You must state on the front of your assignment the number of words used and this will be checked. The main text for this assignment must be word-processed in Arial, font 12, double spacing, minimum 2cm margins all around. You must observe the word count specified in this assignment brief. The School has a policy of accepting variations to the recommended word count of plus or minus 5%. What does this mean for you? Markers will mark your work up to the word count maximum plus 5% and then will stop marking; therefore all words which are in excess of the word count plus 5% will not be marked. Where your word count is more than 5% below that specified, it is likely that this will result in a lack of analytical depth or relevant content, which will be reflected in the mark assigned. What is in the word count? The word count includes: - the main text, including in-text reference citations and quotations. The word count does not include: - Appendices. These may be used to include supporting data, which may be too detailed or complex to include as a Table. They are not a device to incorporate material, which would otherwise cause you to exceed the word limit. - Title page - Contents page - Abstract/executive summary - Tables, figures, legends - Reference lists - Acknowledgements Assignment: The Management, Governance and Society module has examined the contribution of business firms and hybrid organisational models to a variety of complex social issues. To understand global challenges, the module has referred to the United National Sustainable Development Framework, which highlights 17 Sustainable Development Goals to be globally achieved between 2015 and 2030. Such global goals are equally relevant to all regions in the world, however the actions through which governments, organizations and citizens in specific areas aim to pursue these global objectives will vary depending on the characteristics of the local socioeconomic and socio-political environment. The aim of this assignment is to critically evaluate the role of social-purpose organisations (whether private for-profit businesses or hybrid models) in mitigating a specific global challenge of your choice, in a geographical setting of your choice. As a first step, you should: - Select 1 or 2 SDGs. Should you choose more than 1 SDG, they should be clearly interlinked to allow for an integrated discussion; - Select 1 geographical region of your preference (a country, or a region within a country). In your essay, you should: - Develop an analysis of the current situation and historical evolution of the region over the past two decades, with respect to the chosen SDG area (ca. 500 words); - Examine the role of national and international policies to foster improvement in the selected area(s). At least 2 policy interventions (one national, one international) should be described and critically analysed, by highlighting their advantages and disadvantages (ca. 700 words); - Examine the role of social-purpose organisations in addressing the identified problems in the selected area(s). At least 2 organisations of different kind (e.g. one social enterprise and one public-private partnership or one business firm and one multi-stakeholder partnership) should be described and critically analysed, by highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of their strategies (ca. 1000 words); - Formulate recommendations for policy and practice, by considering the interdependences between the chosen policies, the social-purpose organisations, and the regulatory, socio-cultural and socio-economic environment (ca. 300 words). Marking will consider the presence and degree of elaboration of the following points: - Presentation and critical analysis of relevant examples of social-purpose business or hybrid models. Discussion related to social impact evaluation of said initiatives will be important to clearly demarcate their contribution to the selected SDGs; - Presentation and critical analysis of relevant examples of policy reforms, aimed to tackle the chosen global challenges. Understanding of intended as well as unintended outcomes of policy measures will be important, to recognize advantages and disadvantages of regulatory interventions, also in relation to business initiatives; - Contextualization of the above discussions into the institutional/regulatory environment, with elaboration of how contextual conditions influence business formation and policy intervention; - Integration of the proposed critical evaluation with the theoretical concepts learnt during the module; - Use of a wide variety of sources (e.g. academic literature, policy reports, press releases, blogs, annual reports, business archival data, interviews, national statistics, etc); - Document layout and formatting. Formatting should be consistent throughout the document, and should be designed to help readability and content clarity. Assessment Criteria Criteria Marks Available Presentation and critical analysis of relevant examples of social purpose business or hybrid models. [30] Presentation and critical analysis of relevant examples of policy reforms, aimed to tackle the chosen global challenges. [15] Contextualization of the above discussions into the institutional/regulatory environment [15] Integration of the proposed critical evaluation with the theoretical concepts learnt during the module [20] Use of a wide variety of sources [10] Document layout and formatting [10]
Statistical Pattern Recognition: Data Analysis Project General Instructions Investigate the applied problem outlined in the project brief and write a short report (5-10 pages) on your analyses. Note: It is the content that is important. Longer reports will not be penalized directly, but longer is not necessarily better (whereas concise is definitely better). See the Project Mark Scheme for further details. Your report should consist of an introduction stating the purpose of the analysis. This should be followed by a data and methods section describing the data and explaining why the method(s) you have chosen are appropriate and briefly, in your own words, how they function. Note: You should give a more detailed description of any advanced methods (e.g. the M-level topic; methods beyond the scope of the module) employed and why they are appropriate (to demonstrate understanding). If the data is pre-processed in any way (e.g. scaling, normalisation) this should be explained and justified (at the appropriate place in the report). The analyses should be described in detail in a results section. Recall: any tables, graphs or plots included should be carefully labelled and discussed. The report should have a concluding section in which you summarise and interpret your results. If appropriate, the results from different methods should be compared and any similarities or differences commented on. If appropriate, you should attempt to draw practical conclusions from your analysis. Tip: In general, you should not report the poor results of lots of classifiers that you have tried in the main text (see Mark Scheme). You may wish to include this sort of trial and improvement in an appendix (but if you do, it should still be presented in the formal report style). The report should have a future work (sub)section in which you suggest how the analysis could be extended and/ or improved. R code should be included in an Appendix. (Note: This is included for two reasons: to check you can perform. this analysis correctly (so the marker may run your code to check it works as intended) and to identify errors if the results are not as expected (and hopefully still reward your efforts). Therefore, it is in your interest to include all R code clearly and concisely- see model solutions for good examples.)
SEMESTER 1 2024/25 COURSEWORK BRIEF: Module Code: MANG2011 Assessment: Individual Coursework Weighting: 100% Module Title: Human Resource Management Submission Due Date: @ 16:00 13 January 2025 Word Count: 3000 This assessment relates to the following module learning outcomes: A. Knowledge and Understanding B. Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills C. Transferable and Generic Skills 3 Coursework Brief: Section A: Evaluate one problem from this section (The maximum word count is 1500 words). 1. HR Policy & Practice Report Guidelines Task Overview: You are required to evaluate the goals of the HRM department (or the company's HR policy and practice) of an organization such as Google, Amazon, or Microsoft. This evaluation should be conducted using the five-factor framework. Your report should highlight common features across these companies or, if focusing on a single company, identify any distinctive features and key omissions. Steps for Completing the Report: 1. Select a Company: Choose one of the following companies or another that interests you. You may also choose to evaluate multiple companies: o Google: https://www.google.com o Amazon: https://www.amazon.com o Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com 2. Explore the Company's HRM Information: o Visit the company’s website. o Navigate to the "Company Overview" or equivalent section. o Locate information related to the HRM department or any HR-related policies and practices, including the company’s business strategy. 3. Evaluate the HRM Goals: Analyze the goals of the HRM department or the company’s HR policies using the concepts from Baron & Kreps or the five-factor framework. Key areas to explore: o HR Department Organization: How is the HR department structured? o Functional Correspondence: Do the department’s activities align with key functional areas of HRM (e.g., staffing, compensation, training)? o Guiding Values: Do the listed values provide a strong guideline for managerial behaviour within the company? o Strategic Role: Do the HR department’s objectives emphasize the strategic role of HRM? 4. Considerations for Evaluation: o How does the company's HRM strategy contribute to overall business success? o Does the HRM department play a proactive role in driving innovation and organizational change? o How well does the HR department support the company's mission and values? By following these guidelines, you will be able to create a thorough and insightful report that critically evaluates the HR policies and practices of your chosen company. 2. Online Recruitment Assessment Report Guidelines Task Overview: You are required to perform. an independent assessment of the online recruitment approaches of different companies. You may choose one company or multiple companies. Your report should cover various aspects of the recruitment websites, such as usability, company image, key information provided, and how the website sets expectations about work. You can choose from the following companies for your assessment: • PwC UK: https://www.pwc.co.uk • McKinsey & Company: https://www.mckinsey.com • HSBC: https://www.hsbc.co.uk Steps for Completing the Report: 1. Select the Company Websites: o Visit the recruitment sections of the chosen companies’ websites listed above. o Explore the recruitment or career pages to gather relevant information. 2. Evaluate Key Aspects: Your report should include the following sections: a. Overall Impression of the Website and Ease of Navigation: o Assess the overall design, layout, and user experience of the website. o Evaluate how easy it is for applicants to navigate the site, find job postings, and apply for positions. o Consider the intuitiveness of the application process and any support features available for users. b. Image Portrayed and Values Presented: o Analyze the company’s branding as reflected on the recruitment page. o Discuss the image the company portrays through its website, including visual elements, messaging, and tone. o Identify the core values and culture that the company emphasizes to potential applicants. c. Key Information (e.g., Job Descriptions): o Examine the clarity and detail of job descriptions provided on the website. o Consider whether the job postings include essential information such as roles, responsibilities, qualifications, and benefits. o Evaluate how well the company communicates what they are looking for in candidates. d. How the Website Sets Expectations About Work: o Assess how the website communicates the nature of the work environment, company culture, and employee expectations. o Determine whether the website provides insight into the company’s work-life balance, career development opportunities, and employee benefits. o Look for testimonials, videos, or other content that might help set realistic expectations for applicants about what it's like to work at the company. 3. Considerations for Evaluation: o How effectively do the websites engage potential candidates? o Are the companies transparent and clear about what they offer and what they expect from employees? o How does each company’s online recruitment approach reflect its overall brand and values? By following these guidelines, you will create a comprehensive report that assesses the online recruitment practices of the selected companies, offering valuable insights into their approaches to attracting and engaging potential employees. 3. Information & Support for Professional Development: CPD Policy Summary Task Overview: As the Human Resource Development (HRD) Manager of a large consultancy employing a diverse range of professionally qualified staff, you are responsible for developing a Continuous Professional Development (CPD) policy tailored to different professional groups. This summary outlines the key features of a CPD policy and the specific requirements for engineers, solicitors, and chartered accountants. Key Features of a CPD Policy: 1. Purpose and Objectives: o The CPD policy should aim to ensure that all professional staff maintain and enhance their knowledge, skills, and competencies to remain effective in their roles. o It should promote lifelong learning, career development, and adherence to industry standards. 2. Scope: o The policy should apply to all professional staff within the consultancy, with tailored provisions for different professional groups based on their regulatory and industry-specific requirements. 3. CPD Activities: o The policy should outline acceptable CPD activities, which may include formal education and training, e-learning, seminars, workshops, conferences, mentoring, research, and self-directed learning. o Activities should align with individual career goals and the consultancy's strategic objectives. 4. CPD Planning and Recording: o Professionals should be required to create annual CPD plans in consultation with their supervisors, outlining their learning objectives and the activities they will undertake to achieve them. o A system should be established for recording completed CPD activities, tracking progress, and providing evidence of compliance with CPD requirements. 5. Support and Resources: o The consultancy should provide access to relevant CPD resources, including internal training programs, external courses, and online learning platforms. o Financial support or time allowances may be offered to encourage participation in CPD activities. 6. Evaluation and Review: o Regular evaluation of the CPD policy should be conducted to ensure it meets the evolving needs of the professional staff and aligns with industry standards. o Feedback from employees and professional bodies should be incorporated into periodic reviews of the policy. Specific requirements for professional groups can be found through the following organizations: • Engineers: The Institution of Engineering and Technology - IET • Solicitors: The Law Society • Chartered Accountants: Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales - ICAEW Conclusion: A well-structured CPD policy that addresses the specific needs of different professional groups is essential for maintaining high standards of professional practice within the consultancy. By providing clear guidelines and support, the consultancy can ensure that its staff continue to develop their skills, knowledge, and competencies, ultimately contributing to the organization's success and reputation. Section B: Discuss one problem from this section – (Maximum word limit 1500). 1. Soton Data Soton Data, a large computer firm, has a long history of training mainframe. computer operators. About twenty years ago, they faced a significant challenge: although Soton Data provided the best training available, they were losing a substantial portion of their trained operators to competitors and other firms eager to hire specialists trained by Soton Data. Training employees who then leave for other firms, especially rivals, is clearly not a profitable strategy. Suggest some alternative or complementary strategies that Soton Data might have used to address this problem. How would your strategies work in the short term versus the long term? Who would benefit, and who might be harmed? 2. Thai Carpets Pok, a 2009 graduate of the Southampton MBA program, runs a carpet manufacturing firm specializing in high-quality, expensive, hand-made carpets that require significant design and production time. He faces penalties from buyers if carpets are not delivered on time. Pok encountered difficulties in getting his weavers to complete their work on schedule. To expedite production, he introduced a bonus system, offering a 10% premium to those who finished their assigned work within a three-month period. However, the results showed that very few weavers changed their behaviour, and carpets continued to be completed in well over three months. Based on this, Pok concluded that money does not motivate most of the Thai village weavers and that he should explore alternative methods of motivation. Was he correct? What would you do in this situation? 3. AI and HR Policy and Practice The recent evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) has been fuelled by the increasing availability of vast amounts of digital data, significant advancements in computational power and storage capacity, and substantial engineering and scientific innovation in AI methods and tools. AI systems are expected to impact both individuals and society in ways that are currently beyond our imagination. Discuss the potential effects of AI on a company’s HR policies and practices. How willing are companies to adopt AI in their HR-related operations? What difficulties and hurdles do these companies face in achieving their goals? 4. Employee Turnover Discuss the reasons why employees quit their jobs. Examine the employee retention policies of a major retail company. What strategies can companies implement to retain their skilled employees?
BLAW1002 ”The Parabola of Motion: Understanding Free Fall Through Manual Measurement” Introduction Welcome to an exciting exploration of physics and mathematics! In this project, you will study the motion of free-falling objects of varying sizes to analyze their trajectories and calculate the acceleration due to gravity. Additionally, you will explore the effects of an initial upwards velocity on the motion, introducing a layer of complexity to the equations of motion. Objective Using manual data collection through stop-motion capture, analyze the free fall of three objects of similar shape but varying size, both with and without an initial upwards velocity. Calculate the acceleration due to gravity, derive all the SUVAT equations, and determine the percentage error compared to a = −9.81m/s2 . Materials • Three rounded objects of similar shape but varying size (e.g., a marble, golf ball, and tennis ball) • Smartphone or camera for stop-motion capture • Free or accessible software for frame analysis (e.g., Tracker or similar apps) • Rulers, Tape, String, Measuring sticks, Measuring tape • Graph paper, Calculators, Notebooks Group Formation Work in pairs. Collaboration and communication are key. Project Phases Phase 1: Experiment Design Design an experiment to capture the motion of three objects of varying size dropped from the same height. Choose a drop height between 5 meters and 20 meters, ensuring safety and accuracy in data collection. For the second set of trials, incorporate an initial upwards velocity to make the objects travel higher than their original drop point. Plan how you will measure the time of motion and distances, ensuring minimal errors. Consider environmental factors, such as wind, and control for them as much as possible. Phase 2: Data Collection Using your smartphone or camera, capture the motion of the three objects during both sets of trials: • Free-fall trials: Drop the objects from rest at the chosen height and record the motion. • Upwards velocity trials: Launch the objects upwards with an initial velocity so they travel higher than the original drop point before falling back down. Analyze the stop-motion videos to determine precise time intervals for each object. Perform three trials for each object in both scenarios to ensure reliability. Record all data in an organized manner for ease of analysis. Phase 3: Data Analysis and Acceleration Calculation For each trial, analyze your data to calculate the acceleration due to gravity. Use the equations of motion, modifying them as needed to include the initial upwards velocity for the second set of trials. Key equations: • For free-fall trials: s = ut + 2/1at2, where u = 0 (initial velocity). • For upwards velocity trials: s = ut + 2/1at2, where u > 0 (initial upwards velocity). Compare your calculated values of a for each object to −9.81m/s2 , and calculate the percentage error using: Percentage Error = |Theoretical Value/Experimental Value − Theoretical Value| × 100%. Phase 4: Deriving the SUVAT Equations Using the base equation s = ut+2/1at2, derive all the other SUVAT equations. Show all mathematical manipulations step by step and clearly define each variable: • s: Displacement (m) • u: Initial velocity (m/s) • v: Final velocity (m/s) • a: Acceleration (m/s2) • t: Time (s) Write a short explanation of the physical significance of each equation in relation to both free-fall and upwards velocity trials. Phase 5: Presentation and Reflection Present your findings, including your calculated values of a, percentage errors, and an analysis of the results. Include the derivations of the SUVAT equations as part of your presentation. Reflect on the learning experience, discussing challenges faced and how you addressed them. Compare the complexities of analyzing free-fall motion with and without an initial upwards velocity. Discuss the impact of ignoring factors like air resistance and drag, and hypothesize how these might have affected your results. Reflection and Discussion Questions In your final report, address the following reflection and discussion questions. Ensure your responses demonstrate the use of appropriate mathematical language, accurate representations, logical struc- ture, and connections to real-world contexts: 1. Accuracy and Degree of Confidence: How accurate were your calculated acceleration values compared to the theoretical value of −9.81m/s2 ? Justify the degree of accuracy and explain any factors that may have contributed to discrepancies in your results. 2. Impact of Initial Velocity: How did introducing an initial upwards velocity affect the motion and your calculations? Describe the mathematical strategies used to model this situation and discuss how the solution aligns with the context of the experiment. 3. Simplifications and Realism: This project assumed ideal conditions, such as ignoring air resistance. How might these assumptions have impacted your results? Propose appropriate mathematical strategies to incorporate these factors in future experiments. 4. Connections to Real-Life Contexts: Relate the equations and methods used in this project to practical real-life applications, such as in sports, engineering, or space exploration. How do these connections enhance the significance and understanding of your work? 5. Evaluation of Experimental Design: Identify the relevant elements of your experimental design. What were its strengths and limitations? Discuss how the accuracy and reliability of the results could be improved through changes in the design or data collection process. 6. Collaboration and Communication: Reflect on how you and your partner used appro- priate mathematical language and representations to communicate ideas effectively. What strategies worked well, and what could be improved in future collaborative efforts? 7. Organizing and Presenting Findings: How did you ensure your report was logically organized and included accurate mathematical representations (e.g., graphs, tables)? Justify how your choices improved the clarity and coherence of your conclusions. Submission Guidelines The final report must: • Be typed and formatted neatly, including: – All calculations, graphs, pictures, and tables needed for the entire project. – Answers to all reflection and discussion questions. • Be submitted as a single PDF file with both students’ names clearly labeled on the front page. • Be uploaded to the ManageBac Dropbox for this project no later than November 28th , 2024. Reports submitted after the deadline will be subject to penalties as outlined in the course syllabus. Criterion C: Communicating This criterion evaluates your ability to communicate your mathematical work clearly and effectively, using appropriate language, accurate representations, and a logical structure. Achievement Levels: Level 1-2: • Uses limited mathematical language. • Uses limited forms of mathematical representation to present information. • Communicates through lines of reasoning that are difficult to interpret. Level 3-4: • Uses some appropriate mathematical language. • Uses appropriate forms of mathematical representation to present information adequately. • Communicates through lines of reasoning that are complete. • Adequately organizes information using a logical structure. Level 5-6: • Usually uses appropriate mathematical language. • Usually uses appropriate forms of mathematical representation to present information cor- rectly. • Usually moves between different forms of mathematical representation. • Communicates through lines of reasoning that are complete and coherent. • Presents work that is usually organized using a logical structure. Level 7-8: • Consistently uses appropriate mathematical language. • Consistently uses appropriate forms of mathematical representation to present information correctly. • Moves effectively between different forms of mathematical representation. • Communicates through lines of reasoning that are complete, coherent, and concise. • Presents work that is consistently organized using a logical structure. Criterion D: Applying Mathematics in Real-World Contexts This criterion assesses the ability to apply mathematics to real-world contexts by identifying rel- evant elements, selecting and applying mathematical strategies, and evaluating the accuracy and relevance of solutions. Achievement Levels: Level 1-2: • Identifies some elements of the authentic real-world situation. • Applies mathematical strategies to find a solution to the authentic real-world situation, with limited success. Level 3-4: • Identifies the relevant elements of the authentic real-world situation. • Selects, with some success, adequate mathematical strategies to model the authentic real- world situation. • Applies mathematical strategies to reach a solution to the authentic real-world situation. • Discusses whether the solution makes sense in the context of the authentic real-world situa- tion. Level 5-6: • Identifies the relevant elements of the authentic real-world situation. • Selects adequate mathematical strategies to model the authentic real-world situation. • Applies the selected mathematical strategies to reach a valid solution to the authentic real- world situation. • Explains the degree of accuracy of the solution. • Explains whether the solution makes sense in the context of the authentic real-world situation. Level 7-8: • Identifies the relevant elements of the authentic real-world situation. • Selects appropriate mathematical strategies to model the authentic real-world situation. • Applies the selected mathematical strategies to reach a correct solution to the authentic real-world situation. • Justifies the degree of accuracy of the solution. • Justifies whether the solution makes sense in the context of the authentic real-world situation.
