In the preceding exercises, I have stated that my problem is
that students at the University of Florida do not have tutoring resources
readily available to them once they get into their upper level, more difficult
courses. My product and service would be packets with important information
from the classes and tutoring services for those harder, upper division
classes. My tutoring service would consist of one-on-one tutoring, group
tutoring which would be available to everyone with a membership, and simply a
packet consisting of the materials necessary to ace the class. The one-on-one
tutoring would be the most expensive since it is a more personalized
experience. The group tutoring sessions would be priced through a monthly
subscription. The packets with the important course material will be the
cheapest option, as you are really doing all the tutoring yourself, we will
simply provide you with the essential information. In order to accomplish this,
I would need to find people who have taken those classes (and did well in them)
and hire them to be a part of my tutoring service. I want to emphasize that
this service is not for classes that freshman will be taking like the general
education requirements; this service is only for students who have passed
freshman year or have entered into their major requirement courses.
Friday, February 9, 2018
Friday, February 2, 2018
Assignment 6A - Identifying Opportunities in Economic & Regulatory Trends
Economic Trend #1: The use of cryptocurrencies
·
Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/ethereum-2018-price-predictions-experts-forecast-ether-q1-value-2648606
·
I believe this opportunity exists because the
above article discusses the success of the cryptocurrency Ethereum, which has
grown to a value of $800 from just $11 at the beginning of 2017.
·
The prototypical customer would probably be
younger people simply because cryptocurrencies are very volatile and I don’t
think the older generations would want to risk their money.
·
I think this opportunity would be easy to
exploit, but the real issue is how long it will last. I think right now there
is a lot of hype around Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and its popularity has
grown a lot. A lot of the younger generation is currently using cryptocurrencies,
so I don’t see why it wouldn’t be easy to exploit.
·
I saw this opportunity because Bitcoin has grown
in popularity over the last few months, and now there is a lot of focus on
these types of currency.
Regulatory Chance #1: Trump’s tax cuts
·
This opportunity exists because President Trump’s
tax plan was just passed by the Senate and the House, so it will probably be signed
into law soon enough.
·
The prototypical customers will probably be
investors as the article states that once the bill is signed, stocks are going
to soar and earn people a lot of money.
·
I think this opportunity would be easy to
exploit because the article is clear on the effects the tax cut will have, so
it is more than likely that people are going to invest in the stock market a
lot more.
·
I found this opportunity because there has been
a lot of media and press coverage about Trump’s tax plan.
Regulatory change #2: Using drones to fight the Zika virus
·
I think this opportunity exists because,
although Zika has not been in the news much lately, there are still Zika
infected insects out there, especially in places in Florida such as Miami.
·
The prototypical customer should be people that
live in areas affected by Zika and want to protect themselves and their loved ones
from the virus
·
I think this opportunity would be somewhat easy
to exploit because people care a lot about their health and want to protect
themselves from harm.
·
I found this opportunity because I remembered how
much press coverage there was surround Zika last year and knew that it was a
big health scare for everyone.
Economic change #2: More people will be employed;
unemployment rates will fall
·
I believe this opportunity exists because the
article states that the unemployment rate is going to fall to only 4-5% and the
economy will fully recover from the recession.
·
The prototypical customer are people with
degrees in healthcare as the article states that healthcare will experience the
fastest growth in terms of employment.
·
I think this opportunity would be a little
difficult to exploit as the article states that people with only a high-school
diploma will have a significantly harder time finding jobs, and the article is
only citing a rise in employment for some occupations, not all.
·
I found this opportunity because, as a student, I
am interested in what the job market is like so I can be aware of my standing
when I graduate and enter into the working world.
Assignment 7A - Testing the Hypothesis
Tutoring for Upper-Level Classes at UF
Opportunity: Once students at the University of Florida
enter into their upper-level courses, classes become harder and there are fewer
tutoring resources to help them succeed.
The who: Students at the University of Florida
The what: Students have limited access to tutoring resources
to help them succeed in harder classes.
The why: There may not be enough tutors with expertise in
higher-level courses
Testing the who: There could be students at other
universities who have this need. In addition to students, there could be tutors
that need to make money that have experience teaching harder classes. These tutors
would be employed, and would therefore have the need for this.
Testing the what: The boundaries would be the number of
tutors that have knowledge of the subjects and the number of students that were
actually seeking help.
Testing the why: Tutoring resources for higher-level courses
may have been put in place before, but there wasn’t a need for them. Maybe
after freshman year students start to develop their own study methods that they
are happy with, so they don’t see a need for tutoring.
Interview #1:
This person pointed out that there are many schools that don’t
even have tutoring resources to begin with. While we have aids for our general
education requirements, some universities have nothing to help their students
except the textbook and the professors. She figured that if other students at
other universities can get through their classes without any additional help,
she could do the same.
Interview #2:
This person pointed out that some majors and colleges at the
University of Florida have classes that are considered more difficult than
others. This student was an engineering major and said that he probably
struggles more in his upper-level courses than someone in a different major
would. He thought a tutoring service would help him survive the engineering
curriculum.
Interview #3:
This student made it clear that she didn’t want her hand to
be held all throughout college. By this she meant that she wanted to find her
own resources and not be spoon-fed all the answers to questions that professors
would be asking on exams. The student said that as a freshman, the tutoring resources
were really helpful because she used them to get adjusted to college. However,
she said that once she entered into the job market, employers wouldn’t be
giving her step-by-step directions on all her tasks; she would have to think on
her own and come up with her own solutions, rather than be told what to do and
how to do it.
Interview #4:
The student explained that having to pay an additional fee
for tutoring services every month, in addition to the tuition that he was
already paying to attend UF just wouldn’t be a feasible option. He stated his
confidence that UF professors and TAs give enough resources to help students
succeed on their own, without outside assistance. He also said that if you’re
smart enough to get into the university, you’re smart enough to put in the work
and get good grades.
Interview #5:
This student said that if she knew she was just going to get
help from a tutoring service to pass all her classes, she wouldn’t even bother
going to lectures anymore. If she had the notes and the tools she needed to
succeed in the class, she wouldn’t feel that it was necessary to drag herself
to class every day. She felt this would hinder her college experience, as she wouldn’t
be taking advantage of the knowledge her professors had. She was also quick to
say that she wasn’t just attending the school for a grade; she wanted to
actually learn something.
From my interviews, I found that students, for the most
part, are willing to put in the work themselves. Interview #3 and #4 really
considered what the downfalls of continuing to use a tutoring service all
throughout college would be, such as the money it takes to pay for the material
in addition to the tuition you’re already paying, and the drawbacks it will
cause once you get a job. The last interview was really great because the
student said that grades weren’t everything, and she was at college for the
bigger picture. It was important for her to learn as much as she could instead
of just taking exams and passing classes. I think that students want some form
of help when they are freshman, but after that they start to form their own
study habits and find resources on their own to pass their classes.
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