Explanatory Synthesis

 
Task:
For this paper, we will work with the concepts of research, synthesis, MLA conventions, essay organization and construction, and expository composition. In this paper, you will choose a topic of your own about which to inform us.  Genetically Modified Organisms, Organic Farming, Global Warming, Mars Travel, Recycling, or about anything you might want to research a bit yourself will work. You will need to provide a particular focus and develop a research question that you will answer in your essay. In addition, you will need to acquire at least 4 credible and comprehensive sources of at least two “types” to use in your essay. Of course, you can use more than four sources, but you must use at least 4. You must show synthesis of the information provided in these sources and correctly cite and document them using MLA conventions. You will find the JFK Library online data bases very helpful when researching your topic and we will be attending a library presentation to aid us in research. Be sure to get all of the necessary documentation information you will need when researching so that you won’t have to try to find the source again.

What needs to be done is a research exercise, a “fact finding” exercise. This paper is evidence of a thorough, balanced research of your topic. You need to explore more than one element of your topic: ethics, economics, applications, social, and/or any other relevant aspect of your topic that results from your research. For example, some elements of stem cell research are ethics, economics, social and religious, political, among others, or you might thoroughly research hydroponics as a part of continued deep space exploration or a moon habitation development. A balanced research would look at the position and presentation of those in favor and those opposed to continued stem cell research or space habitat development. From alternative energy to Physician Assisted Suicide, there are no shortages of qualified voices on all sides of an issue. Your job is to find them and represent them fairly in your paper.

THIS IS NOT AN ARGUMENT. While I believe that it is difficult to write anything without some form of persuasion involved, you must remember that your primary goal is to inform your audience. For this paper, your audience is assumed to be other first and second-year composition students who are interested in your topic.

Format:
This paper should be two full pages to 2 1/2 pages in length (front & back is okay), not including the Works Cited page, single-spaced, size 10 Arial font with one inch margins. Normally, an MLA paper is no smaller than sized 12 font and is double spaced. Otherwise, the paper will need to conform to MLA conventions and good composition criteria.

Evaluation:
In addition to focus, development and support, organization, and good mechanics, your paper will be assessed for depth and clarity and the use of “modes” of expository discourse: comparison, causality, process, analysis, definition, and etc. Your purpose and ideas should be clear to your reader, and your use of sources evident through summary, paraphrase, and critique. This paper should be mechanically correct and is worth 100 points.

primary goal of this part of the discussion is to analyze the Learning Patterns of another person in your life.  A heightened awareness of the differences and similarities between yourself and others around you is a critical component in the process of becoming an intentional learner.  Consider this as you respond to the following:

1. Pick one person in your life that you regularly interact with.  Briefly describe them and hypothesize their Use First, Avoid, and Use as Needed Learning Patterns. If you prefer to give them the LCI, please download the instructions. This version is appropriate for individuals ages 16 and up.
2. What evidence do you have to support your hypothesis?  If they completed the LCI, what evidence do you have to validate their scores? Provide specific examples of how the person you identified uses their Learning Patterns.
    

Part Two:
Now that you have identified and analyzed the Patterns of someone else, think about potential areas of Pattern Conflict.

1. How do their hypothetical Learning Patterns compare to yours?  List your LCI scores to remind us of your own Learning Patterns. 
2. Which Learning Pattern(s) help you connect and work positively with the person you described?  Conversely, which Pattern(s) have contributed to or have the potential to lead to Pattern Conflict?   Provide specific examples of how each Learning Pattern played a role in your interactions. 
    
   Your initial post should contain a minimum of 250 words.
    
    
   Note from Audio:
   
   One of the main purposes of a college education is to challenge ourselves to use higher levels of reasoning and thinking skills. Critical thinking involves being able to solve a problem, examine information from several different perspectives, and resolve conflicts.  In addition to critically reading Chapter 3 of your textbook, watch the
   Do You Think? video (above) for another perspective on critical thinking, or view the
   transcript.
   
   
   Critical Thinking plays an important role in helping you analyze your own Learning Patterns as well as identifying and understanding the patterns of others.  When analyzing the Learning Patterns of others, the concepts of 
   Pattern Conflict
    and 
   Pattern Bias
    play a key role in the understanding the quality of our relationships with others.  
   
                
   
   The
   group exchange video from Chapter 2 highlights how an understanding of others’ Learning Patterns can help reduce Pattern Conflict and Bias. Furthermore, the story of Mark and Tanya hanging wallpaper in Chapter 2 (Section 2.2 – Precision) is a real-life example of
   Pattern Conflict.  When working with others, your unique combination of Learning Patterns may clash with theirs. These conflicts can get in the way of achieving tasks and make it difficult to get along with others.

   In addition to causing conflicts, differences and similarities in Patterns can lead to 
   Pattern Bias
   , which can be both positive and negative. For example, a highly Sequential manager may have a positive bias for employees who are well organized, keep a tight schedule, and stick to the rules. On the other hand, that same manager may have a negative bias against those who are more Confluent and want to bend the rules or change procedures.  Whether we are aware of them or not, we all tend to have biases related to our Learning Patterns. Critical Thinking helps us to identify our biases and is the first step to understanding them. 

Consider the role of simulation analysis and decision trees in capital budgeting risk analysis.    Describe   the advantages offered by each technique.  Describe a scenario that the technique would be appropriate to apply to and explain what you would expect to learn from application of that tool.

Write your response as a one-page memo.  Post your memo in the discussion forum and solicit feedback from your classmates.

Refer to Chapter 5 of your text to complete this assignment.  This is an individual assignment, not a group assignment.  Use the file attached to this content item as a source for the questions below.

Your industrial supply company wants to create a data warehouse where management can obtain a single corporate-wide view of critical sales information to identify bestselling products, key customers, and sales trends.   Your sales and product information are stored in two different systems:  a divisional sales system running on a UNIX server and a corporate sales system running on an IBM mainframe.  You would like to create a single standard format that consolidates these data from both systems.
 

1.     Identify the primary key of MPD. Sales table. (10 points)

2.     Using Figure 5.10 in your text as an example, create a SQL Select Query to pull Product_ID, Product_Description and Units_Sold for Product 85773 from the CSS.Sales table.  Hint:  do not use the CSS prefix in your query. (10 points)

3.     Identify the data problems that must be resolved as you determine the system of record for each of the attributes in the proposed data warehouse.  Who should make those decisions, the database specialist or the business manager leading this data warehouse project?  Why? (10 points)

4.     What business problems are created by having two disparate sales systems? (10 points)

5.     List and describe how each of the five business intelligence reports covered in section 10.2 of your text will leverage the information below to provide actionable information. (10 points)

**Sample data warehouse layout for this company.  You are not required to fill out this table.**

Answer the five questions in a Word Document and attach it to this assignment content area.  You are NOT REQUIRED to follow APA formatting for this document, but be sure to include your name at the top of the 1st page.  

SUPPLIMENTAL GUIDANCE

     As is the case with many of the Online sections for this course, I have gotten some good questions related to the Assignment 3 content and I wanted to give you some clarifying guidance on what is expected.  This assignment is arguably the most technically challenging, especially when you do not have the opportunity for a class session to talk through the content.

     For the assignment, you are to use the PDF document attached to that specific content item (in Module 4) in order to help you complete questions 1 thru 5.  The PDF shows you two records from two separate tables housed in two separate databases (MPD and CSS).  The chart at the bottom of the content area is there only for reference to help you understand what a combined data warehouse model may look like as you brought those two database tables together.  You are not expected to fill out this chart or re-create it in any fashion.

-For question 1, you need to identify the primary key of one of the tables on the MPD database.  Note (as shown in the question) that the way parent objects and children are reflected in database terms is to list the PARENT.CHILD separated by a period.  

-For question 2, you are being asked to try and create a basic SQL query to extract certain information from one of the SALES tables (the one from the CSS database).  SQL queries have three parts (refer to sample figure 5.10 as a guide) and here is some additional information on each: 

– a SELECT clause, which is where you state what fields you want to see in your results.  Fields are properly written as TABLE.Field1, TABLE.Field2, etc.

– a FROM clause, which is where you state from what table you want to pull the results.  The example in the text has two tables, but you are only pulling from one (SALES) for this assignment.

– a WHERE clause, which is where you state how you want to filter the results.  This is where you define the specific constraints.  Without this, it will pull all fields you asked for in the SELECT, from the table you asked for in the FROM line.

An example would be: SELECT TABLE.Field1, TABLE.Field2, TABLE, Field3

                                 FROM TABLE

                                 WHERE TABLE.Field1 = 12345

Note that in the actual query, there is no mention of the database you are pulling from (MPD or CSS in this example).  Rather, this is done at a level above any queries since a SQL query only goes against a single database.  Thus, you do not need to have any reference to the MPD or CSS database as part of your query.

– For questions 3 & 4, you should refer to section 5.4 where there are topics on information assurance and quality of information to help you answer this.  Specifically for #3, you should do some analysis on the two tables from the attachment and identify some inconsistencies that may cause issues should you simply merge the two tables together into a single warehouse.

– For question 5, refer to section 10.2 where there are actually six business intelligence ‘capabilities’ identified (HINT:  first one listed in ‘Production Reports’).   You should select five of them and provide your response for this question.

Finally, note that the last line of the content states that you can simple paste your responses into the assignment content area – no need to submit a separate Word doc here.