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