Updated PDP

Professional Development Plan

Mission –

To live a happy enjoyable life, while providing whatever my family needs to do the same.

Skills and Talents –

 I believe I am a level headed individual and can make critical decisions under high pressure situations.  I am very determined and pursue what I want until I have it.  Can stay optimistic in whatever situation I find myself in.  Place the needs of those I care about, or am in charge of above my own.

Self-awareness –

 My intelligence is probably lower than many other science major students in the country, so my work ethic needs to be greater to overcome that.

Short term goals (five years)

-          Graduate from stout

-          Go to officer candidate school / Warrant officer school

-          Possibly go to graduate school (figure out what I may like to do with my science degree)

-          Marry Glenna

-          Buy a House

-          Enjoy last years of college, and don’t worry about the future

Checkpoints for Short term goals – 

     -        Finish my Army physicians assistant packet by the end of the Spring semester.

     -         Graduate from Stout Next May.

Long term Goals (10 years)

-          Have children

-          Achieve the rank of Captain

-          Go on one more deployment

 

Strategy to achieve short term goals –

-          Graduate from Stout – Continue to strive for high grades, while gaining knowledge and enjoying my time at UW- Stout. 

1.       Graduate with a G.P.A above 3.5

2.       Do one research project

3.       Take as many classes that I can that interest me

4.       Graduate in the next 1.5 years

-          Go to officer candidate school / Warrant officer school

1.       Continue to learn from my superiors

2.       Continue to go to NCO academies until I go to OCS or WOS

-          Graduate school

1.       Keep all the knowledge I have gained at UW – Stout

2.       Find what my passion is in the science world

-          Marry Glenna

1.       Don’t piss her off more than I already do

-          Buy a House

1.       Continue to save

2.       Find an area Glenna and I would like to start a family

Strategy to achieve Long term goals –

-          Have children

-          Achieve the rank of Captain

1.       Learn from officers above me

2.       Maintain high PT scores

3.       Attend as many officer schools as I can

4.       Take all promotions even if a move is necessary

-          Go on one more deployment

1.       Serve one more time overseas to gain more experience

2.       Stay with my home unit if possible

Possible obstacles for all goals –

-          Graduate from Stout – Academic problems / drinking

-          Go to officer candidate school / Warrant officer school – Glenna

-          Possibly go to graduate school – I don’t know what I want to do

-          Marry Glenna - military

-          Buy a House - money

-          Have children -

-          Achieve the rank of Captain -

-          Go on one more deployment – Glenna

Plan to overcome obstacles

-          Academic problems / drinking – I do not for see these two obstacles being much of a problem to achieving my goal of graduating.  I enjoy the courses and I am taking at Stout and really enjoy learning about science.  If I do start struggling with grades I will make sure I make use of the tutors available.  As well as put more time and effort into studying.  I do enjoy spending my free time at the bar with friends, and if starts to become an issue I will have to take action immediately.  Glenna is a very good evaluator of this obstacle.  She keeps me in check when it comes to drinking, and if in the future she has serious concerns I will need to acknowledge her and take action.

-          Graduate school (I don’t know what I want to do) – I think I would enjoy going on to further education very much.  The problem is I have no idea what I want to do.  I find many if not all the courses I have taken very interesting, and I don’t know which I would like to focus on.  I have been a medic for 5 years, and have thought of going to P.A. school.  I believe to overcome this issue I need to start doing some research and continue to shadow the family practice doctor I have been working with to see if it is something I would like to do.

Updated Information after Meeting -

Five Choices for AGR Positions –

1.       Infantry

2.       Medical Officer

3.       Engineer Officer

4.       Recruiting and Retention

5.       Warrant Officer

I made these decisions after I contacted my current Commanding Officer as well as another officer in my unit that I know well.  Each told me there experiences as well as how they came to the decision they did.  Both of them went through the ROTC program at different colleges in Wisconsin.  That was not something I was interested in doing, so I also talked with a new lieutenant in my unit who just completed his officer training through an accelerated program after he received his bachelor’s degree.  After talking with him for a while about the program I decided that I would start getting my packet ready for that school.  I decided not to talk with Colonel Stout, because I already knew about the ROTC program and didn’t want to get hassled about joining Stout’s ROTC program.  Right now I have two separate packets started.    I have sent my transcripts to the physician’s assistant program and was told I can continue in the entry process, so that is going to be my main focus for the next couple of months.  I was told that the courses I have taken and my current G.P.A. are not going to be a problem.  They also said that my deployment experience as well as military service will help with the entry process.  I have been in contact with Wisconsin’s representative for this program who has been guiding my through the process.  If all goes well I could possibly be accepted into the program before I graduate from Stout, and be granted a bachelor’s degree from Nebraska.  I know that is wishful thinking, but I am going to continue following his instructions and continue the entry process.

Entrepreneurship

Choose a focus of either your final project topic or your career plan to develop an entrepreneurial assessment of yourself. This should be about a "1-page" activity. Some of these questions may help guide your thoughts: Do you want to be a "businessperson or an entrepreneur?" What traits and/or strengths do you see in your PDP that aligns with your thought? What weaknesses or opportunities for improvement do you notice that you would like to address to become a "businessperson or an entrepreneur?" Is entrepreneurship just about starting a business? Or is it much deeper and holistic than that? As the world quickly changes, which type of folks do you feel will be more on their "toes" and less on their "heels." Who do you think will achieve and live the happinesses that they seek in life?

My career goals and professional development plan are aimed at leading me to become a officer in the United States Army.  I have had this goal since I can remember as a child.  I started this goal professionally when I was 17, and joined the Wisconsin Army National Guard.  I have been trying to accomplish my goal by attending college and continuing my military NCO courses.  I have been fortunate enough to receive my first four promotions rather quickly and gained the rank of Sergeant.  As a Sergeant I have been in control of many soldiers, which has led me to learn how to lead soldier's.  This experience in leadership is going to be help me attain my goal as successful and respected officer in the U.S. Army.  I do not plan on ever getting involved with business, but I believe that I can apply traits of an entrepreneur to achieve my goals.  Some of the traits of an entrepreneur will apply to my own personal aspirations but that is about it.  As a leader of soldier's my goals and aspirations should not be a part of my thought process when making decisions.  I have had leader's in the past who make their decisions to reach their own goals and make themselves appear better in the eyes of the higher ups.  I know I will reach my goal, because of my own determination to accomplish it.  Once I attain my goal I hope that I will be able to make all of my decisions based upon the needs of the mission and the needs of the soldiers under my control.  I will do this through professionalism, passion, respect for subordinates, discipline, and love for country.  I am not worried about categorizing myself as a businessman or an entrepreneur.  I am not trying to reinvent the wheel or be the next Bill Gates.  I will be trained to lead the way that the military wants me to lead.  I do believe I can bring a lot to the table, and possible do things a different way to benefit the needs and well being of my soldiers.  The main goal is always going to be the mission and soon after that the needs of the soldier.  Decisions that I make when I reach my goal will solely be based on those two things and those alone.  If I make a decision that is not going to benefit the mission or the soldier then I should not be in the position to make those decisions.  If I can be successful and respected by my peers and subordinates as a leader of soldier's that should be all the happiness that I am seeking.  Members of the military are always on their toes.  One day we are packing our bags ready to go home, and the next we are unpacking and staying a month longer.

Lean Process

The 5S process I implemented was on the Medical office that I work in.  The lean process was also implemented to eliminate extra unneeded waste.  Their wasn't any way to implement the transportation muda simply, because we don't deal with any of the products movement.  In was kind of implemented in that all needed supplies were moved into the office, so we didn't have to get them from storage when they were needed.  An inventory has been and continually gets updated to keep track of numbers of supplies.  This allows us to monitor shortages that we may have.  The reorganization of the office helped in the motion muda, because all needed supplies were moved to areas more easily accessible than they were previously.  The waiting muda can and will be implemented by making a schedule for work that needs to be done.  Generally, this is already done and the schedule is followed closely to cut out unneeded waiting periods.  Over production is not an issue, because we do not provide a product but a service.  Over processing can be implemented by coming up with new ways to accomplish daily tasks.  Defects to our supplies are already closely monitored and we document all defects when inventories are done.  Any defects or shortages in supplies are documented immediately and resupply or exchange is done quickly.  Some data I could come up with for the lean process is that we had several shortages in syringes, needle/catheters, IV tubing, as well as several medications.  We were several hundred syringes below what we are suppose to have about 2 boxes.  Needle/catheters weren't too far off, but we also found three expired boxes.  IV tubing was one box under what we have on our inventory list, and was restocked immediately.  Our medication shortages we're documented, and will be resupplied over the next week.

5s Process

Post a record of a 5S process that you have completed. Post a before and after picture. Also, post a short narrative of how you addressed each of the "8s's" of the 5S process. Due Nov 11.

I implemented the 5s process on the medical office of HHC 1-28th INF.  Before I implemented the 5s's, the office was very cluttered and extremely hard to work and find equipment in.  Not only was the working area unorganized, but the entire office was chaotic

sorting - The first step that was taken was to take all unneeded materials out of the office as well as the desk.  Anything not needed on a daily basis was taken to storage.

straightening - All of the medical supplies that we decided to keep in the office as well as other office supplies were put on to shelves and labeled.

systematic - My squad leader and I made up a cleaning roster for the soldier's below us to follow.  This roster had times with teams of two, which included cleaning duties to follow.
cleaning

standardizing - For standardizing we set-up a packing list and location for all medical supplies that each soldier should have in their medicals bags.  Each bag was set up exactly the same, so no matter what bag a soldier needed to use everything would be in the same spot.

sustaining - Sustaining this plan will need to be implemented by the squad and team leaders.  Spot checks will be done periodically to ensure that soldiers are adhering to the plan in place.

safety - I believe safety was improved, because the office was cleaned up and unneeded supplies were not stacked on the shelves.  Having a more clean and uncluttered office will help with safety concerns

security - We have always had security plans in place.  There are many valuable medical items as well as closely monitored medications.  The office is always locked when there are no medical personnel present.

satisfaction - Having an organized and cleaner workspace will make being and working in the medical office a better environment for everyone.  This also includes the patients that we have coming into the office.  The new environment we have in place is a much more professional atmosphere.

Quality Management

Identify and describe a quality management process that is utilized in your field of interest. Typically this process is in response or guided by a professional organization in that field. Identify that organization.

Army Reguluation 5-1 Army Management implemented the TAQ - Total Army quality.  The four main focuses of the TAQ are 1. Leadership vision and commitment 2. Mission and customer focus 3. Employee empowerment 4. Continous improvement.  These quality control measures are maintained by having a defined mission statement, clear vision, measurable objectives, and a written document that can be used to continously improve off of.  These quaity control measuremetns are guided by AR 5-1 and the TAQ, and are implemented in any and all missions.

Special Ethical Questions

Ask/address an ethical question in your field of interest.

The ethical question I will be address is homosexual's in the military.  More specifically I will be talking about "Don't Ask Don't Tell", and the Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2010. 

Develop/address arguments for each side of the issue, then defend your position on the issue.

        The Don't Ask Don't Tell law was in forced from December 1993 to September 2011.  Prior to the Don't Ask Don't Tell law in 1993 homosexuality was completely unacceptable.  Don't Ask Don't Tell was brought on by President Clinton, and basically was meant to end questioning soldiers of their sexuality.  Homosexuality was still unlawful under this law, but a homosexual could remain in the U.S. military as long as they kept it completely private.  The Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal Act of 2011 ended Don't Ask Don't Tell, and now allows homosexuals to openly serve in the U.S. military. 
         I have served during the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, and for a short time I have served after the repeal act.  I have know of homosexuals in the military while I have served and never thought less of them as a soldier.  We all wear the same uniform, and are fighting for the same reasons.  If someone is willing to sign on the dotted line and put their life on the line for the United States they should have the right to be proud of who they and not hide it.  There have been many great soldiers that have been discharged from the United States military, because of the military's stance on homosexuality.  With the repeal of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy we will not have to lose another, and I believe it will strength the U.S. military.
         Although, I did not agree with the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy I can see why it was in affect for so many years.  The U.S. military has been based on tradition for hundreds of years, and changes do not come quickly.  The U.S. military believed that having openly gay or lesbian soldier's would weaken unit cohesion, discipline, and did not follow the morale standards of the military.  Many of these morale standards come form the Christian religion, which is obviously against homosexuality.  The last lines of the enlistment oath that every soldier entering the military must say is "So help me God".  Many of the military's traditions and morale's are based off of Christian beliefs, and accepting homosexuality would go against those traditions and morale's.  Another problem that can arise is that many people in the U.S. military are uncomfortable with homosexuality, and you can see how this could be a problem when a lot of the times you are eating, sleeping, and working with soldiers in your unit 24 hours a day seven days a week for sometimes a year at a time.  The Don't Ask Don't Tell policy kept a lot of these issues silenced by not allowing them to come up.  If soldier's were not allowed to Ask someone if they were a homosexual, and a homosexual was not allowed to tell anyone then there would be no disputes in a unit over these issues.  Below is a bullet taken from the Don't Ask Don't Tell Policy explaining the traditions and morales of the U.S. military and why they believed at the time that homsexuals should not serve openly(policy concerning homsexuality in the Armed Forces).

 (8)Military life is fundamentally different from civilian life in that—

(A)the extraordinary responsibilities of the armed forces, the unique conditions of military service, and the critical role of unit cohesion, require that the military community, while subject to civilian control, exist as a specialized society; and

(B)the military society is characterized by its own laws, rules, customs, and traditions, including numerous restrictions on personal behavior, that would not be acceptable in civilian society.

this activity must include references
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c111:7:./temp/~c111SNIR00 (Library of Congress - Don't Ask Don't Tell Repeal Act 2011)

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/10/654.html  (U.S.C.  654- policy concerning homsexuality in the Armed Forces)



each student will then review this beginning on Nov 2.

Title, Issue, Action Plan

Post your team's project Title, Issue, and Action Plan.

-          Topic place solar panels on all of the Jarvis/Micheels Buildings

-          Issues – Cost, Time, Feasibility, Benefits, Maintenance(sustainability)

-          Budget Group - cost feasibility (Tom / Amy) yorka8950@my.uwstout.edu

-          Benefits/ Time

-          Legal(business, ethics)(Camille, Sam)

-          Technological Development –

-          Sustainability -

I am part of the Budget group, and will be responsible with determining cost and feasibility of placing Solar Panels on Jarvis Hall.

MN Wild

Is it ethical for a physician to accept Wild tickets from a pharmaceutical rep to take her family to the game?

 

I believe that it is fine for a physician to accept Wild tickets from a pharmaceutical rep.  If they want to give them away why wouldn't you take them?  It doesn't become unethical until the physicians opinions and decisions begin to change based on gifts from the rep.  As long as the physician makes their choices independently of the gifts I do not believe anything unethical is occurring

Provide an argument for this based on the current ethical fabric of society and what is accepted in the organizations involved.

 

Although, I do not believe it is unethical to accept a gift from a person who you are doing business with.  I believe that organizations and business should set rules and standards for questions like this, so there is no grey area for given situations.  Most, organizations / business have rules like this in place with specific guidelines, or simply bold rules that outlaw accepting any kind of gift at all.  I looked up this topic in the United States Department of Justice for officials in the Executive Branch.  The rules for accepting gifts are stated below from the USDOJ website.  I believe that the any reputable organization would have guidelines like this in place.

 

A Federal employee may not accept gifts from any person or organization that --

• Seeks official action by the employee's agency
• Does business or seeks to do business with the employee's agency
• Conducts activities regulated by the employee's agency
• Has interests that may be substantially affected by performance or nonperformance of the employee's official duties
• Is an organization a majority of whose members are described above; or
• Gives the gift because of the employee's official position.

 

Ethics

Post an ethical code/statement for your career field of interest that has been developed by a professional organization in your field.

Soldier, servant of the nation, leader of character, and member of a time-honored profession.

Army Values -

Loyalty
Discipline
Respect
Selfless Service
Honor
Integrity
Personal Courage

Post this code/statement for the following countries: USA, India, China, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and Isreal

Chinese Naval Academy-

In general, our military ethics education promotion strategy is more like a bottom-up research oriented instead of a top-down working strategy. That means we are going to build up the common consensus from a small group research scale to an across institutes research scale through (1) from the build up of the assessment tools to the promotion of the ethics course instead of developing an ethics course directly, (2) from the teaching of professional ethics concepts in science and engineering course to facilitate a stand along course, (3) from referring the prototype of the western military ethics course development to develop our own military ethics course, and (4) dividing the research topics of the military professional ethics into: leadership, engineering ethics, administrative ethics, educational ethics, and try to integrate them into a holistic military ethics course content.

Israel -

 Questions relating to morality in military conduct are so central in Israel that, for some experts, the IDF is the world’s “most moral armed force”. While it is difficult to evaluate the reality of this phenomenon in the field, this reputation is based on a deep, undeniable preoccupation with the ethical dimensions of the use of force, a preoccupation that can be considered an historical political choice by the Zionist leadership even before the establishment of the State.


Saudi Arabia -

The Islamic legal principles of international law were mainly based on Qur'an and the Sunnah of Muhammad, who gave various injunctions to his forces and adopted practices toward the conduct of war. The most important of these were summarized by Muhammad's successor and close companion, Abu Bakr, in the form of ten rules for the Muslim army:

Stop, O people, that I may give you ten rules for your guidance in the battlefield. Do not commit treachery or deviate from the right path. You must not mutilate dead bodies. Neither kill a child, nor a woman, nor an aged man. Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire, especially those which are fruitful. Slay not any of the enemy's flock, save for your food. You are likely to pass by people who have devoted their lives to monastic services; leave them alone

 Thailand -

5 Diversity Quotes from my field

Leader commitment at all levels is a critical factor in the success of diversity initiatives. Ensuring that our leadership is continually educated and trained to support the Army's diversity initiatives will serve to enhance the Army's 21st-Century mission readiness agenda.

Competition for talent requires that the Army reach out and embrace an increasingly diverse American population. An open and inclusive environment is critical to attracting, developing and retaining employees to serve as Soldiers and Civilians in the Army. Attracting and retaining the Nation's diverse talent can be achieved through a comprehensive talent management strategy.

The Army has a world-class training and education structure, and is recognized globally for highly successful training. Persistent conflict and a dynamic, uncertain operational environment require that Army leadership, throughout the Force, be versatile in managing many cultures, experiences and other backgrounds under challenging conditions.

An objective for the Army is to develop a diverse workforce with the right skills and abilities, who are committed to achieving the mission in an environment of transition and war. Maintaining an inclusive environment throughout the Army will favorably impact recruiting, retention and mission accomplishment.

There is only one color in the United States Army, and that color is green.

Four of my comments are from the United States Army's goals for Army Diversity and Strength.  The fifth goal is one that I have heard over the years of taking diversity classes, while being in the Army.  These goals are all very similar in there objective to understand and adapt to the changes in America's views and out look on diversity.  The quotes (goals) are slightly different, because they all explain the benefits of understanding and accepting diversity within the Armed forces.  Some are aimed at how talented and different many demographics are, and how they can strength the entire Army by being accepted and incorporated.  Other's speak of how accepting diversity needs to be Incorporated at the top and go all the way down the line to the newest soldier joining the Army.  If these goals can be accomplished the entire Army would be stronger as a whole, and completing whatever mission is assigned would be a much easier task if diversity was accepted.  The last quote is probably the most different, because it is very broad and comes from the soldiers within the Army.  I believe that it is the most important though, and fits my beliefs the closest.  The statement, there is only one color and that color is green is a very strong one and encourages soldiers to realize that we are all in it together no matter what your color, religion, sexual preference, or beliefs are.  I personally would not care at all if I was fighting beside a homosexual Muslim who prayed to Allah daily and skype chatted with his boyfriend all night long.  As soon as someone puts on the uniform they are as equal to me as a Catholic boyscout who loves George Bush, country music, and Miller lite.  Missions and goals cannot be completed if everyone does not feel as if they are on an equal playing field, and I fully accept diversity as should everyone in the United States Army.

Diversity

Talk about what diversity means to you. And explain how valuing and championing diversity will help you in your career.

Diversity to me means many different things.  In the sense of my career I believe that if I make myself a more diverse person with many different skill sets as well as different experiences I will have more success in my chosen career.  If I just leave Stout with a piece of paper saying I can get A's and B's in a classroom setting that doesn't really set me apart from anyone else.  If I can get myself involved with different experiences and opportunities to learn new skills I will be a much more diverse and well rounded individual.  If I were in the shoes of an employer and two new UW-Stout graduates came to me looking for a job, and one student had a 4.0 with no experience and another had a 3.5 and a ton of work or research experience.  I think I would feel much more comfortable hiring the one with a worse GPA, but a greater amount of work experience. 

More importantly I think that diversifying myself with different people in the world will help me in my career.  Many people think of this as studying abroad to diversify themselves with different parts and people in the world.  I don't really agree with that really diversifying someone with the people in the World.  If you study abroad in England you are basically diversifying yourself with an American who has an accent who happens to live across an ocean and is surrounded by old churches.  A person can get a much better experience with diversity by talking to a single mother in Menomonie who barely has enough money to feed her children or heat there home.  I have lived for short periods of time throughout many parts of the United States, which may have slightly diversified me.  I have been to Ireland, Amsterdam, and Germany.  I didn't meet many people or see many sights, but again there was not a great deal of learning experience by being in these places.  I've also worked side by side with Iraqi civilians for a year.  I will never again learn more about what the World is actually about for the rest of my life.  One of our interpreters would tell us daily how lucky we are just to live in America.  I remember him telling me one time "If you think the World is a good place, you either haven't seen the real World, or you are just suppressing the truth to make yourself feel better".  He couldn't speak perfect English, but that was basically what he was trying to tell me.  I don't think I fall into his first category, because I believe to "see" the real world you have to live it and I only saw it.  I ashamedly fall into the second category, because I suppress what I know about the World to make myself feel more comfortable.  The World is very different than it is at home, and the people are as well.  I believe I know how diverse the World is, and try to learn and strength myself through my experiences.  I accepted diversity and aspire to see people for who they are.

Main Project Decision

Today in class we had to make the decision on whether we wanted to do the wood or solar projects.  I believe that I am going to choose the Solar project, because I don't know much about solar energy.  It has always interested me and this would be a good time to learn more about this topic in a group setting.

CO2 paper presentations

On Friday and Monday all six groups presented their cases for either supporting the CO2 paper or opposing its view points.  The criteria discussed in class was references and scientific methods.  Some of the strengths of these criteria were that they were very objective and didn't leave a lot of room for speculation.  A weakness of the criteria were that they were very broad, and it was very hard to narrow the information down.  Are group seemed to be well organized and managed between the five of us.  We fairly divided up the work load and all coloaborated to make our power point presentation.  There wasn't much that I can think of that didn't go well in terms of managing the group, dividing the work, and combining out thoughts.  My personal ethics were not an issue in this presentation.  I do not have a strong feeling to either side of the argument I was just fighting on the side I was put on.  All of the groups seemed to stay on task and present only these two criteria with out going off task.  I personally thought are presentation went quite well.  We were a group supporting the paper, but I really liked group 3's presentation against the paper.  They had many valid arguments, and exclusively presented scientific methods and reference flaws.  At the end of class morning we voted on whether we believed the paper was still valid and which group won.  The results of our vote was quite interesting.  There were many people who had switched votes for yes or no on the papers validity and which group won.  I thought it would be an equal amount in each category, but several people choose yes or no for if they thought the paper was still valid.  And there response for who won was opposite.  Overall, the class was on the "no" side of the argument, which seems like a good decision for the global environment.  I don't believe or disbelieve global warming, but I think if the world was a little more resourceful and "greenier" it wouldn't be a bad thing.

I believe the statement "what we do in the US, soon will not matter" means that we will eventually hit the point of no return and won't be able to go back.  If we reach a point where there is no returning then it will not matter what we do after that point.

The statement "what we do as individuals matters" to me means that even though the small things that you do as a individual hold great power.  When individual acts are combined together into a whole population the impact is magnified to an amount that an individual may not be able to see. 

Finalizing CO2 presentation

On Monday our group met with Professor Shultz to discuss how we were going to go about our argument for the legitimacy of the CO2 paper.  Professor Shultz gave us some ideas on how we should go about arguing our point.  The main things were to stay on task and know the criteria.  Then he advised us that we should know the other groups arguments and how we can refute them.  On Wednesday our group met out of class to finalize our presentation, and thought of ways the "no" team would argue against us.  We came up with some very good points and believe our presentation will be ready for Friday.

Classroom Discussion - Criteria for Scientific paper

Group 3 - Yes

Criteria -

1.  References / sources (credible)

2.  Science Methods valid (accurately repeatably)

 - Look at references and look to see how many times they have been referenced.
 - Look at methods data analysis, think of what the "no" teams are going to say.

CO2 debate

- Is paper legitimate ? Yes - make argument for its legitimacy

-

Criteria for evaluating Scientific papers

-   Sufficient data to back up statements or theories being made.
-   Accurate refernces to related and reliable sources
-   Paper address other side of scientific arguement and tries to disprove their views
-  Objective material without obvious bias
-  Clarity of written information - can the reader understand what the author is conveying

Professional Development Plan - class discussion

- Define values/ interests
- Assess your own skills and talents
- Self-awarness
- Timeline for all goals long and short term
- Checkpoints throughout PDP for self-evaluation
- Corrective actions that can be taken if goals are not being reached or timeline is missed.
- Plans to reach goals(strategy)
- plans to overcome obstacle
- mission

Penny Presentation

Today in Issues for Science Professionals our group as well as the other groups in class presented our responses to the questions of how much does a penny weigh.  Most of the groups including my own did not answer the proposed question in a scientific manner.  Much of the information presented was based around the history of the penny rather than scientific data collected to answer the question in a experimental manner.  Our group ended up "winning" the penny question contest.  I believe what set us apart from the other presentations was that we actually did do some scientific sampling of pennies to determine our responses.  This including weighing different types of pennies, taking a sample of 100 pennies to find the probability of finding a certain penny, and a water displacement measurement which we ended up not being able to use due to low precision.

How much does a penny weigh?

On Friday the tenth of September a question was asked by Dr. Schultz to determine the weight of a penny that we had found on the ground.  To find the answer I simply googled the average weight of a penny, and found that a penny weighed 2.5 grams.  On Monday the 12th two more questions were asked.  One about the weight of a penny in the 1970's and the other about the weight of a penny in the early 1700's.  We then were split up into groups to come up with our best response to the questions.  First, to figure the weight of a average penny we weighed five on a scale and took the average.  To find the weight of a penny in the 1970's we found 5 pennies from that era and weighed and averaged their amounts.  The two answer varied, because of the composition of the penny from the two different time periods.  We then researched the composition of a penny from the 1700's, and found that they were made of pure copper.  With this information we were able to estimate its weight.  We also thought about the first question more indepth.  If we had picked up a random penny it could either way 2.5 grams if it was made after 1982, or 3.2 grams if it were made before 1982.  We then took a sample of 100 pennies to see how many were pre and post 1982 to find which penny you would have a greater chance of finding on the ground.

Professional Development Plan

A professional development plan is a tool for both indivduals as well as business or larger groups to use to plan for the future.  It allows the user to direct their future in a way that will increase their chances for success.  A professional development plan will incorporate what the user's main goal or asperations are.  From here this main goal is broken down into even smaller goals, and set up a plan or strategy as to how these goals will allow the user to reach their main goal.  During this process the professional development plan also incorporates the users beleifs, and values which he or she would not like to break in the process of ataining their goals.  These steps will also be linked along with a time table to assure the user stays on the right path to attain their ultimate goal.  Throughout this process self and or outside evaluations can be setup along the way to look back and ensure that the users professional development plan is being followed.  As with any plan problems will come about, so the professional developement plan should incorporate solutions to those problesm when they arise.  A simple template of the professional development plan may look something like this.

 - Ultimate Goal or overal mission -
 - Goals to accomplished to acieve mission -
 - Steps to achieve goals or strategy -
 - Values to be followed -
 - Time table for goals each goal or subgoals -
 - Self and peer evaulations to be made at specific time intervals -
 - Problems that may come up or disrupt goal achievement -
 - Steps to overcome problems when they arise -