questionnaire

            Hello, I am a student at University Centre of Peterborough and am currently taking the FdSc Engineering course. Part of this course is an academic paper on a relevant controversial topic. It would be of great help to me if you will kindly fill out this questionnaire for my research. All data will be destroyed after compiling. Thank you.

 Questionnaire

1)      Do you work in industry or a factory?                       Yes      No

If no, continue to question 2. If yes, question 3.

2)      Where do you work? Shshtrhtrtrhwrthrthtrhtrhtrhhrthtrhtrrthrthrthrthrth

3)      As a worker do you use any form of automation?     Yes      No

4)      Is your job repetitive?                                                 Yes      No

If yes, continue to question 5. If no, continue to question 6

5)      Do you feel automation could be used to do your job instead? Yes  No

6)      Have you or anybody you know been replaced by automation?       Yes      No

7)      If you have any comments or suggestions about this questionnaire or automation please feel free to write them below

Hello this is where I would like you to fill in the questionnaire please. It will be very handy for me if you have comments but I realise that you may not. To john Nash, hello john, if you are reading this then you have changed the colour of the font. I find this rather amusing. Please reply with formative marks on the assessment. Unfortunately blogger isn’t working on my laptop and I will have to email the documents to you, saying that I might pop in to the library and see if they have any free computers. Then I will be able to post this online.

Thank you for taking the time to fill in this questionnaire, your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Research Methodology and Predictions

Research Methodology

            In order to gather information for this paper I will hand out the questionnaire included in the appendix to a random sample of 100 people. The sample will be random in order to prevent the results from being bias. I will then compile the results into graphs or pie charts and put the completed questionnaires in the appendix. I will then compare my data to other research to see if there are any similarities. I will then draw conclusions from my results.

Predictions

I believe that automation is being integrated into jobs in such a way that it is only aiding the employee so a repetitive job becomes less repetitive. I do not believe automation is reducing employment in a major way. I expect the results of my questionnaire to back this up and will be surprised if the results show anything else.

Literature Review

Much of the work done in industry is repetitive; this is a good reason for automation, argues Marquis, 2007. However he also argues that we, as humans, need to understand how the machines work in order for automation to be possible. This is because we can’t build something to do a job for us if we don’t know how to program it to do said job in the first place. Another downside to automation as pointed out by Goldsmith, 2010 is that the machines can cost millions of pounds which is money that could be better spent employing skilled workers. Alternately Geiger 2010 states “Human resources are pricy and, more often than not, consume a large portion of a company’s budget.” This is supported by Shunk 2010 who states that “The typical U.S. auto worker makes around $30 per hour, plus benefits. In China, a worker would be hard-pressed to earn $250 in a month.”

Geiger, MJ. (2002-2010) “Advantages of automation in a declining economy” [Internet] http://www.helium.com/items/1762309-manufacturing-automation-recession-recovery-economic-growth-jobs-cost-cutting-update-cost

[12/10/2010]

Goldsmith, O. (2010) “Is Automation Of Industry Good For Us?” [Internet] http://ezinearticles.com/?Is-Automation-Of-Industry-Good-For-Us?&id=5055470 [12/10/2010]

Marquis, H. (2007) “Automating ITIL” [Internet] http://www.itsmwatch.com/itil/article.php/3708941/Automating-ITIL.htm [12/10/2010]

Shunk, S. (2010) “Increasing Chinese labor unrest to spur faster automation?” [Internet, RSS feed] http://www.autoblog.com/2010/07/07/increasing-chinese-labor-unrest-to-spur-faster-automation/ [12/10/2010]

VARK Test

VARK Results

Total number of Vs circled = 3

Total number of As circled = 0

Total number of Rs circled = 4

Total number of Ks circled = 8

The result for the K section really doesn’t come as a surprise to me. This in mainly because I have always been very ‘hands on’ with everything I do, even from an early age. Throughout my education I have always thoroughly enjoyed the practical elements of every subject I have taken and have always achieved good results from this. What really surprised me is that I am not an aural learner at all. This surprises me as I feel I have usually been able to recall things that have been said even if they seem insignificant at the time. I thought I would have scored higher on the R section as well because I spend quite a lot of time reading books and can usually remember the content of the book. Also for my revision for my A-Levels and GCSEs I did a lot of reading and writing notes from the books. The visual result does not really surprise me. I much prefer reading a text book to watching a video.

Before even taking the test I assumed I would be a kinaesthetic learner. The results from my test validate my belief and the overall outcome was as expected. After receiving the test results I have realised I have to work harder in order to become more of an aural learner as well. Ideally I would like to remain a kinaesthetic learner but also round off my skills in other types of learning. If I achieve this I will be able to make full advantage of every learning style and teaching style available.

Memletics

My prediction wasn't too far from the actual results. The only major difference is the Aural section which is much greater than my prediction. From this it is evident that i am a fairly well-rounded learner  with the exception of social learning which i already know is not one of my strong points.

Learning Line

SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis Resource Sheet

STRENGTHS I am a very ‘hands on’ learner. This proved very good during my GCSE Electronics and the practical elements of my A-Levels. I am relatively laid back and easy going. Not so much so that I don’t do my assignments but enough so I do not panic and get overly stressed about them. Currently I am unemployed. While this is also a threat it is a strength as it means I have more time to spend on my work.	WEAKNESSES My handwriting is extremely untidy. This makes it difficult to read my notes while typing them up. It also makes it hard for other people to read and mark my work. I do not yet have the internet. I will be getting a dongle but that has not arrived yet. For now I will be doing online work in the library in town or at the college. Even when I am connected to the internet Google doesn’t work. I will have to look into fixing this as the other available search engines do not always return appropriate search results.
OPPORTUNITIES Attending UCP is an opportunity as, providing I put the work in, I will be a qualified engineer by the end of the course which will improve my employability. Even though I applied late to UCP I consider it as an opportunity as it means I had more time to thoroughly research my options and courses which were available to me.	THREATS As mentioned I am unemployed. This is a threat as it means I have no source of income until my student loan goes in. This means I will not be able to buy the material I need for the course. Obviously the library is essential until I am employed.