Assessment Of Learning Essay Example for Free

Assessment Of Learning Essay Assessment of learning refers to strategies designed to confirm what students know, demonstrate whether or not they have met curriculum outcomes or the goals of their individualized programs, or to certify proficiency and make decisions about students’ future programs or placements. It is designed to provide evidence of achievement to parents, other educators, the students themselves, and sometimes to outside groups (e. g. , employers, other educational institutions). Assessment of learning is the assessment that becomes public and results in statements or symbols about how well students are learning. It often  contributes to pivotal decisions that will affect students’ futures. It is important, then, that the underlying logic and measurement of assessment of learning be credible and defensible. TEACHERS’ ROLES IN ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING Because the consequences of assessment of learning are often far-reaching and affect students seriously, teachers have the responsibility of reporting student learning accurately and fairly, based on evidence obtained from a variety of contexts and applications. Effective assessment of learning requires that teachers provide †¢ a rationale for undertaking a particular assessment of learning at a particular  point in time †¢ clear descriptions of the intended learning †¢ processes that make it possible for students to demonstrate their competence and skill †¢ a range of alternative mechanisms for assessing the same outcomes †¢ public and defensible reference points for making judgements Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind †¢ 55. The purpose of assessment that typically comes at the end of a course or unit of instruction is to determine the extent to which the instructional goals have been achieved and for grading or certification of student achievement. (Linn and Gronlund, Measurement and Assessment in Teaching ) Reflection: Think about an example of assessment of learning in your own teaching and try to develop it further as you read this chapter. 56 †¢ Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind Chapter 5 †¢ transparent approaches to interpretation †¢ descriptions of the assessment process †¢ strategies for recourse in the event of disagreement about the decisions. With the help of their teachers, students can look forward to assessment of learning tasks as occasions to show their competence, as well as the depth and breadth of their learning. PLANNING ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING The purpose of assessment of learning is to measure, certify, and report the level  of students’ learning, so that reasonable decisions can be made about students. There are many potential users of the information:†¢ teachers (who can use the information to communicate with parents about their children’s proficiency and progress) †¢ parents and students (who can use the results for making educational and vocational decisions) †¢ potential employers and post-secondary institutions (who can use the information to make decisions about hiring or acceptance) †¢ principals, district or divisional administrators, and teachers (who can use the information to review and revise programming). Assessment of learning requires the collection and interpretation of information about students’ accomplishments in important curricular areas, in ways that represent the nature and complexity of the intended learning. Because genuine learning for understanding is much more than just recognition or recall of facts or algorithms, assessment of learning tasks need to enable students to show the complexity of their understanding. Students need to be able to apply key concepts, knowledge, skills, and attitudes in ways that are authentic and consistent with current thinking in the knowledge domain. What am I  assessing? Why am I assessing? Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind †¢ 57 Assessment of Learning In assessment of learning, the methods chosen need to address the intended curriculum outcomes and the continuum of learning that is required to reach the outcomes. The methods must allow all students to show their understanding and produce sufficient information to support credible and defensible statements about the nature and quality of their learning, so that others can use the results in appropriate ways. Assessment of learning methods include not only tests and examinations, but  also a rich variety of products and demonstrations of learning—portfolios, exhibitions, performances, presentations, simulations, multimedia projects, and a variety of other written, oral, and visual methods (see Fig. 2. 2, Assessment Tool Kit, page 17). What assessment method should I use? Graduation Portfolios Graduation portfolios are a requirement for graduation from British Columbia and Yukon Senior Years schools. These portfolios comprise collections (electronic or printed) of evidence of students’ accomplishments at school, home, and in the community, including demonstrations of  their competence in skills that are not measured in examinations. Worth four credits toward graduation, the portfolios begin in Grade 10 and are completed by the end of Grade 12. The following are some goals of graduation portfolios: †¢ Students will adopt an active and reflective role in planning, managing, and assessing their learning. †¢ Students will demonstrate learning that complements intellectual development and course-based learning. †¢ Students will plan for successful transitions beyond Grade 12. Graduation portfolios are prepared at the school level and are based on specific Ministry criteria and standards. Students use the criteria and standards as guides for planning, collecting, and presenting their evidence, and for self-assessing. Teachers use the criteria and standards to assess student evidence and assign marks. There are three major components of a graduation portfolio: 1. Portfolio Core (30 percent of the mark). Students must complete requirements in the following six portfolio organizers: arts and design (respond to an art, performance, or design work); community involvement and responsibility (participate co-operatively and respectfully in a  service activity); education and career planning (complete a graduation transition plan); Employability skills (complete 30 hours of work or volunteer experience); information technology (use information technology skills); personal health (complete 80 hours of moderate to intense physical activity). 2. Portfolio Choice (50 percent of the mark). Students expand on the above areas, choosing additional evidence of their achievements. 3. Portfolio Presentation (20 percent of the mark). Students celebrate their learning and reflect at the end of the portfolio process. ( Portfolio Assessment and Focus Areas: A Program Guide) 58 †¢ Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind Chapter 5 Assessment of learning needs to be very carefully constructed so that the information upon which decisions are made is of the highest quality. Assessment of learning is designed to be summative, and to produce defensible and accurate descriptions of student competence in relation to defined outcomes and, occasionally, in relation to other students’ assessment results. Certification of students’ proficiency should be based on a rigorous, reliable, valid, and equitable process of assessment and evaluation. Reliability  Reliability in assessment of learning depends on how accurate, consistent, fair, and free from bias and distortion the assessment is. Teachers might ask themselves: †¢ Do I have enough information about the learning of this particular student to make a definitive statement? †¢ Was the information collected in a way that gives all students an equal chance to show their learning? †¢ Would another teacher arrive at the same conclusion? †¢ Would I make the same decision if I considered this information at another time or in another way? Reference Points Typically, the reference points for assessment of learning are the learning  outcomes as identified in the curriculum that make up the course of study. Assessment tasks include measures of these learning outcomes, and a student’s performance is interpreted and reported in relation to these learning outcomes. In some situations where selection decisions need to be made for limited positions (e. g. , university entrance, scholarships, employment opportunities), assessment of learning results are used to rank students. In such norm-referenced situations, what is being measured needs to be clear, and the way it is being measured needs to be transparent to anyone who might use the assessment  results. Validity Because assessment of learning results in statements about students’ proficiency in wide areas of study, assessment of learning tasks must reflect the key knowledge, concepts, skills, and dispositions set out in the curriculum, and the statements and inferences that emerge must be upheld by the evidence collected. How can I ensure quality in this assessment process? Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind †¢ 59 Assessment of Learning Record-Keeping Whichever approaches teachers choose for assessment of learning, it is their records that provide details about the quality of the measurement. Detailed records of the various components of the assessment of learning are essential, with a description of what each component measures, with what accuracy and against what criteria and reference points, and should include supporting evidence related to the outcomes as justification. When teachers keep records that are detailed and descriptive, they are in an excellent position to provide meaningful reports to parents and others. Merely a symbolic representation of a student’s accomplishments (e. g. , a letter grade or percentage) is inadequate. Reports to parents and others should identify the  intended learning that the report covers, the assessment methods used to gather the supporting information, and the criteria used to make the judgement. Feedback to Students Because assessment of learning comes most often at the end of a unit or learning cycle, feedback to students has a less obvious effect on student learning than assessment for learning and assessment as learning. Nevertheless, students do Ho w can I use the information from this assessment? Guidelines for Grading 1. Use curriculum learning outcomes or some clustering of these (e. g. , strands) as the basis for grading. 2.  Make sure that the meaning of grades comes from clear descriptions of curriculum outcomes and standards. If students achieve the outcome, they get the grade. (NO bell curves! ) 3. Base grades only on individual achievement of the targeted learning outcomes. Report effort, participation, and attitude, for example, separately, unless they are a stated curriculum outcome. Any penalties (e. g. , for late work, absences), if used, should not distort achievement or motivation. 4. Sample student performance using a variety of methods. Do not include all assessments in grades. Provide ongoing feedback on formative  performance using words, rubrics, or checklists, not grades. 5. Keep records in pencil so they can be updated easily to take into consideration more recent achievement. Provide second-chance assessment opportunities (or more). Students should receive the highest, most consistent mark, not an average mark for multiple opportunities. 6. Crunch numbers carefully, if at all. Consider using the median, mode, or statistical measures other than the mean. Weight components within the final grade to ensure that the intended importance is given to each learning outcome. 7. Make sure that each assessment meets quality standards (e.g. , there should be clear targets, clear purpose, appropriate target-method match, appropriate sampling, and absence of bias and distortion) and is properly recorded and maintained (e. g. , in portfolios, at conferences, on tracking sheets). 8. Discuss and involve students in grading at the beginning and throughout the teaching and learning process. (Adapted from O’Connor, How to Grade for Learning ) Resource: Marzano, Transforming Classroom Grading 60 †¢ Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind Chapter 5 rely on their marks and on teachers’ comments as indicators of their level of  success, and to make decisions about their future learning endeavours. Differentiating Learning In assessment of learning, differentiation occurs in the assessment itself. It would make little sense to ask a near-sighted person to demonstrate driving proficiency without glasses. When the driver uses glasses, it is possible for the examiner to get an accurate picture of the driver’s ability, and to certify him or her as proficient. In much the same way, differentiation in assessment of learning requires that the necessary accommodations be in place that allow students to make the particular learning visible. Multiple forms of assessment offer multiple pathways for making student learning transparent to the teacher. A particular curriculum outcome requirement, such as an understanding of the social studies notion of conflict, for example, might be demonstrated through visual, oral, dramatic, or written representations. As long as writing were not an explicit component of the outcome, students who have difficulties with written language, for example, would then have the same opportunity to demonstrate their learning as other students. Although assessment of learning does not always lead teachers to differentiate  instruction or resources, it has a profound effect on the placement and promotion of students and, consequently, on the nature and differentiation of the future instruction and programming that students receive. Therefore, assessment results need to be accurate and detailed enough to allow for wise recommendations. Reporting There are many possible approaches to reporting student proficiency. Reporting assessment of learning needs to be appropriate for the audiences for whom it is intended, and should provide all of the information necessary for them to make reasoned decisions. Regardless of the form of the reporting,  however, it should be honest, fair, and provide sufficient detail and contextual information so that it can be clearly understood. Traditional reporting, which relies only on a student’s average score, provides little information about that student’s skill development or knowledge. One alternate mechanism, which recognizes many forms of success and provides a profile of a student’s level of performance on an emergent-proficient continuum, is the parent- student-teacher conference. This forum provides parents with a great deal of information, and reinforces students’ responsibility for their learning. The Communication System Continuum: From Symbols to Conversations (O’Connor, How to Grade for Learning ) Grades Report cards (grades and brief comments) Infrequent informal communications Parent-teacher interviews Report cards with expanded comments Frequent informal communication Student-involved conferencing Student-led conferencing Reflection: What forms do your reports of student proficiency take? How do these differ according to audience? Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind †¢ 61 Assessment of Learning An Example of Assessment of Learning. Elijah was interested in assessing student mastery of both the modern and the traditional skills required for survival in the Nunavut environment where he teaches. The overarching theme of survival is taught in the early grades and culminates at the senior level in a course delivered in Inuktitut. Students learn how to take care of themselves and others, and how to adapt what they know to the situation at hand. Survival requires not only skills and knowledge, but also a concept the Inuit people call qumiutit, or the ability in an emergency situation to pull out of stored memory information that will enable a person to cope, not panic. Traditionally, this was learned in a holistic manner, grounded in Inuit traditional guiding principles that were nurtured and developed from birth, and taught and reinforced in daily living. Throughout the term, Elijah took his students to an outdoor area to practise on-the-land survival activities, using both traditional and modern methods. He always took with him a knowledgeable Elder who could give the students the information they needed to store away in case of emergency. The students watched demonstrations of a skill a number of times. Each student then practised on his or her own, as Elijah and the Elder observed and assisted. Elijah knew that students need to have a high level of expertise in the survival skills appropriate for the northern natural environment. Elijah assessed each student on each survival skill (e. g. , making fire the traditional way, tying the knots required for the qamutik cross-pieces on a sled). What am I assessing? I am assessing each student’s performance of traditional and modern survival skills. Why am I assessing? I want to know which survival skills each s tudent has mastered and their readiness to s urvive in the natural environment. 62 †¢ Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind. Chapter 5 Elijah knew that the best way to determine if students have mastered the skills is to have them perform them. When students believed they were ready, Elijah created an opportunity for them to demonstrate the mastered skill to a group of Elders, who then (individually, then in consensus) determined if the performance was satisfactory. A student’s competence in a survival skill is often demonstrated by an end product. For example, competence in knot tying is demonstrated by a knot that serves its purpose, and competence in fire building is demonstrated by a fire that is robust. As the Elders judged each student’s performance of the skills, Elijah recorded the results. He shared the information with each student and his or her parents in a final report, as shown here. Ho w can I use the informatio n from this assessment? Now that I know which skills each of the students has mastered, I can report this information to the s tudents and their parents. I can use this information to identify a learning path for each s tudent. How can I ensure quality in this assessment process? Ensuring quality with this approach involves clear criteria: either the student performs the skill s uccessfully or does not. I need to provide adequate opportunities for the s tudent to demonstrate the skills under various conditions and at various times. What assessment method should I use? I need an approach in which students can demonstrate the traditional survival skills that they learned. The method I choose should also allow me to identify which skills they did not master. Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind †¢ 63 Assessment of Learning Shelters: †¢ emergency shelters †¢ igloo building4 †¢ qamaq5 †¢ tents Transportation needs: †¢ making the knots required for the qamutik cross pieces on a sled †¢ building a kayak/umiak. †¢ fixing a snowmobile (spark plugs, repairing track, drive belt) †¢ keeping a boat seaworthy Navigational issues: †¢ reading the land †¢ reading the sky †¢ understanding seasonal variations †¢ reading inuksuit †¢ using GPS †¢ map reading Preparation for land travel: †¢ packing a qamutiq (sled) †¢ load, balance †¢ necessities: snow knife, rope, food, water, heat source †¢ letting others know where you are going †¢ necessary tools, supplies, snowmobile parts, fuel †¢ using communication devices Food sources: †¢ plants and their nutritional properties †¢ hunting, skinning, and cutting up seal, caribou, etc. †¢ kinds of food to take on the land,  and their nutritional properties ____________________ 4. Expertise in igloo building includes understanding of types of snow, the shape and fit of blocks, and the use of a snow- knife. 5. A qamaq is a rounded house, built of scrap wood or bones, and covered with skins, cardboard, or canvas. Report on Survival Skills Student: _______________________________________________ Date: _______________________ Traditional Survival Skills Modern Survival Skills Adaptability to the Seasons Attitude Success Next Steps 1) Skills Building a fire / means of keeping warm: †¢ fuel sources †¢ getting a spark †¢ propane heaters, stoves †¢ clothing. 2) Relationship to the Seasons Assessing conditions / recognizing danger signs: †¢ seasonal changes †¢ land changes †¢ water changes †¢ wind changes †¢ weather changes Climatic changes: †¢ weather changes and how this affects the land and water †¢ knowledge of animals and their characteristics and behaviours 3) Attitudinal Influences (Having the right attitude to learn) †¢ respect for the environment (cleaning up a campsite upon leaving, dealing with the remains of an animal, not over-hunting/fishing) †¢ respect for Elders and their knowledge †¢ ability to learn from Elders 64 †¢ Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind Chapter 5. Elijah’s report identified which of the students had mastered the specified skills required to survive in the Nunavut environment. It outlined other areas (such as adaptability to the seasons and attitudinal influences) about which peers, parents, and family members would need to provide input before a comprehensive assessment could be made. The assessment also identified those students not yet ready to survive in the natural environment. But the Elders did not stop working with the students who did not reach mastery. Elders see learning as an individual path in which skills, knowledge, and attitudes are acquired along the way. If a particular skill was beyond the capability of a student, the Elders identified other areas where that person could contribute to the common good of the community, and was accepted for the gifts he or she brought to the group. In this way, the Elders helped Elijah differentiate the learning path for each of his students. SUMMARY OF PLANNING ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING Assessment for Learning Assessment as Learning Assessment of Learning Why Assess? To enable teachers to determine next steps in advancing student learning to guide and provide opportunities for each student to monitor and critically reflect on his or her learning, and  identify next steps Assess What? each student’s progress and learning needs in relation to the curricular outcomes each student’s thinking about his or her learning, what strategies he or she uses to support or challenge that learning, and the mechanisms he or she uses to adjust and advance his or her learning. What Methods? a range of methods in different modes that make students’ skills and understanding visible a range of methods in different modes that elicit students’ learning and metacognitive processes Ensuring Quality †¢ accuracy and consistency of observations and interpretations of student learning  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ clear, detailed learning expectations †¢ accurate, detailed notes for descriptive feedback to each student †¢ accuracy and consistency of student’s self-reflection, self-monitoring, and self-adjustment. †¢ engagement of the student in considering and challenging his or her thinking †¢ students record their own learning Using the Information †¢ provide each student with accurate descriptive feedback to further his or her learning †¢ differentiate instruction by continually checking where each student is in relation to the curricular outcomes †¢ provide parents or guardians with descriptive feedback about student  learning and ideas for support. †¢ provide each student with accurate descriptive feedback that will help him or her develop independent learning habits †¢ have each student focus on the task and his or her learning (not on getting the right answer) †¢ provide each student with ideas for adjusting, rethinking, and articulating his or her learning †¢ provide the conditions for the teacher and student to discuss alternatives †¢ students report about their learning Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind. †¢ 65 Assessment of Learning to certify or inform parents or others of student’s proficiency in  relation to curriculum learning outcomes the extent to which students can apply the key concepts, knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to the curricular outcomes a range of methods in different modes that assess both product and process †¢ accuracy, consistency, and fairness of judgements based on high-quality information †¢ clear, detailed learning expectations †¢ fair and accurate summative reporting †¢ indicate each student’s level of learning †¢ provide the foundation for discussions on placement or promotion †¢ report fair, accurate, and detailed information that can be used to decide the next steps in a student’s learning.

Sources Of Finance And Working Capital Management Finance Essay

Sources Of Finance And Working Capital Management Finance Essay In the financial context, the working capital management would include the management of debtors, creditors, stock, cash and bank account. This is a kind of short term financing as working capital management will cover current assets and current liability. It is one of the most important and time-consuming activities of the financial manager to ensure the solvency of the firm while attempting to maximize the firms value, there is a constant need to balance profitability and risk. Proper cash management plays an important part to meet permanent financing needs (pay creditors, pay taxes etc). few methods to ease the shortage of cash, such as postpone capital expenditure, negotiation with suppliers about the postpone or reduction of payment with extra caution as any in appropriate negotiation might hurt trading relationship. Furthermore, business can pay the creditor within the discount period so as to pay less to the vendor to enjoy discount, this is a kind of short term financing as it lower down the working capital. No any cost is carried with such kind of financing; business can enjoy higher profit but bear lesser risk. There are 3 basic financing strategies for working capital management to determine the appropriate mix of short-term and long term financing, which would consist of: the aggressive strategy, the conservative strategy and the moderate strategy. The aggressive strategy uses short-term funds to finance all of the firms seasonal and perhaps, a portion of its permanent needs, however, the cost and risk should be taken for consideration. Lower cost since short term financing cost is cheaper but higher risk as the net working capital is lowest. This may have difficulty in obtaining long term fund in an emergency when more financing is required. The conservative strategy uses long term fund to finance all of a firms projected needs and uses short terms funds only in emergencies. Higher cost is incurred since long term financing is more expensive and not needed all year long but low risk since net working capital is high, in addition, short term financing may be readily available in emergency. The moderate financing strategy is a compromise between the aggressive and conservative financing strategies. This result in a level of net working capital somewhat higher than that in aggressive strategy but lower than that of a conservative strategy. Question 2 There are different kind of financing sources which business can gather for its needs. There are four major types of financing such as government aid, business owners, borrowing from the bank and other way of borrowing. For short term financing, all kinds of business would like to borrow loan from the bank, industrial and financial institutions as HSBC (UK) help in promoting new companies, expanding and development of existing companies, providing underwriting facility, provision of local and foreign currency for the purchase of machinery. Commercial paper can be another type of financing which is an unsecured promissory notes issued by very large firms such as HSBC,GM as commercial paper is usually sold at a discount from its face value. Factoring and invoice discounting are the other 2 kinds of short term financing, which simply means that organisation get the advance cash by assign its debt or invoice to the factor, which normally can up to 80% of the value of debts or the amount of selected invoices. Business can through various forms to obtain the medium and long term financing such as debt financing, equity financing and others various forms. Debt financing is ideal for business as it is cheaper to use debt than other forms of financing because lender take lower risk than other long term contributors of capital, long term debts can be obtained through 2 ways: a term loan made by a financial institution such as HSBC which provides flexible business loan, repay over periods of 12 month to 15 years (10 years for fixed rate). The sale of bonds to institutional and individual investors, normally corporate bond are usually issued with maturities of between 5 to 30 years for raising large sum of money to meet its financing needs. Medium and long term financing are obtained through equity financing such as capital market and Initial public offering (IPO), through borrowing and selling shares, company can get much more cash which can be used for further development and other business opportunities. In addition, Listed company can also raise capital through issue right share which is relatively cheap and normally large amount of capital often be raised. Commercial mortgages offered by financial institutes would finance the business to buy freehold or long leasehold premise, for example: bank of Ireland offers flexible payment terms of up to 20 years with optimal repayments throughout the period of the loan. This would ease the tense of businesss medium and long term financing needs. Finally, a debenture is a long-term debt instrument which companies to obtain funds. A debenture is usually unsecured in the sense that there are no liens or pledges on specific assets. It is however, secured by all properties not otherwise pledged. This would satisfy corporate medium and long term financing needs. Question 3 Please refer to the appendix. (Excel format) Question 4 There is different tax liability applied for sole traders, partners and limited companies. For the sole traders, if he/she has any income from self-employment, then he/she should pay any Income Tax and National Insurance contributions due. This will depend on how much you earn from self-employment as he may have to pay Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance contributions. Class 2 National Insurance contributions were charged at a flat rate, either by monthly Direct Debit or by quarterly bill. However, income Tax and Class 4 National Insurance contributions are based on sole traders profits from self-employment. There is several allowances for personal to claim, such as personal allowance, blind persons allowance, married couples allowance, maintenance payment relief, tax allowances and reliefs. Similar to sole trader, partners have to file an individual Self Assessment tax return. Moreover, partners have to fill in the partnership supplementary pages SA104. In addition, the nominated partner must also file a Partnership Return SA800 showing each partners share of the profits or losses. Supplementary pages might be included too, depending on what types of income the partnership has. The nominated partner is responsible for filing the partnership return but all partners will be jointly liable for any penalties, surcharges and interest if the return is late or inaccurate. Each partner is personally responsible for paying the tax and Class 4 National Insurance contributions due on their share of the partnership profits. Now comes to companies. From 1 April 2010, the corporate tax will be 28%, the taxation changes can be found in the appendix such as small companies tax rate is 21%. A non-resident company carrying on a trade in the UK through a permanent establishment located in the UK is liable to corporation tax on all income and gains attributable to that establishment. Corporation tax rates are fixed for each financial year ended 31 March. If the companys accounting period does not coincide with the financial year, its profits must be time-apportioned and the corporation tax rate is applied accordingly. Marginal relief applies to companies with profits between  £300,000 and  £1,500,000. The tax thresholds may be reduced where the UK Company has associated companies worldwide or an accounting period of less than 12 months. Large companies (broadly, those with profits taxed at 28%) are required to pay their tax to HM Revenue (HMRC) in instalments (generally in four equal instalments). The first payment is due six months and 14 days from the first day of the accounting period. There is a minimum limit which enables companies with an annual corporation tax liability of  £10,000 or less to avoid making such payments. For companies not required to pay their tax in instalments to HMRC, corporation tax is due for payment nine months and one day after the end of the companys accounting period Question 5 In the new tax incentive scheme, all business are eligible for the PIC( Productivity and Innovation Credit) for the year of assessment 2011 to 2015 if company invest in any one of following: Enhanced capital allowance or deduction for acquisition or leasing of prescribed automation equipment; Enhanced deduction of qualifying training expenditure; Enhanced writing-down allowance for acquisition of Intellectual Property Rights; Enhanced deduction of costs for registering certain Intellectual Property Rights; Enhanced deduction of qualifying research and development expenditure; and Enhanced deduction of qualifying design expenditure. Business can deduct up to 250% of their expenditure which incurred during these 5 years on each of these actitivities. Form the YA 2011 to 2012, a combined of 600,000 dollars of expenditure of each activity and 300,000 dollars of expenditure for YA 2013 to 2015 can be deducted from their income. In addition, businesses are eligible to convert up to $300,000 (but not less than $1,500) of the qualifying deductions for all six qualifying activities under the PIC   at a rate of 7% into a cash payout of up to $21,000 each year. This new scheme will promote business to invest most on machinery and train their employees to meet one national goal- more productive and innovative for the nation, for the worldwide competitiveness. For the new start up company, company can claim full tax exemption on the first 100,000 dollars of normal chargeable income and 50% for the next 200,000 dollars. This scheme will support local entrepreneurs and help local business grow as the starting of business is always difficult. Other common expenses or tax incentive companies can enjoy are: business expense, capital allowance, industrial building allowances, land intensification allowance, loss carry-back relief and unutilised losses, capital allowances and donations. Question 6 Problem 2 500,000=100,000+150,000+250,000 The payback period is 3 years. Year Cash Flow PV of Cash Flow Cumulative 0 -500,000 -500,000 -500,000 1 100,000 100,0000.9009=90090 -409910 2 150,000 150,0000.8116=121,740 -288170 3 250,000 250,0000.7312=182,800 -105,370 4 300,000 300,0000.6587=197,610 PV=FVx(PVIFn,11%) The discounted payback period=3+ 105,370/197610=3.53years Since 3 Problem 4 a) Year Cash Flow PV of Cash Flow 0 -225,000 -225000 1 75,000 75,0000.8547=64,102.5 2 125,000 125,0000.7305=91,312.5 3 200,000 200,0000.6244=124,880 (total)=280,295 PV=FVx(PVIFn,17%) NPV=280,295-225,000=55,295 b) PI= 280,295/225,000=1.26 c) The project should be accepted as a profitability index greater than 1 and there is consistent with a positive net present value, 1.26 indicates that company can earn the 17% of required rate of return, plus provide a net present value of $ 0.26 per $1.00 of net investment. Problem 6 Year Cash Flow PV of Cash Flow 0 -875,000 -875,000 1 400,000 400,0000.8850=354,000 2 500,000 500,0000.7831=391,550 3 600,000 600,0000.6931=415,860 Total=1,161,410 NPV= -875,000+400,000/(1+r)+500,000/(1+r)2+600,000/(1+r)3=0 IRR=30% Beginning Value=875,000 Terminal Value=354,000+391,550+600,000=1,345,550 So: MIRR=24% 24%>13% and 30%>13%, so we should accept the project. Question 7 There are several technique of financial appraisal, such as NPV, IRR,payback period, discounted payback period etc. Both NPV and IRR generate same accept/reject decision at given cost of capital but may rank project differently due to underlying assumptions such as NPV assumes cash flow are reinvested at the cost of capital( k is from funding), IRR assumes cash flow are reinvested at the internal rate of return itself( k is for project), thus the magnitude and timing of cash flows will affect the ranking of the projects. Theoretically, NPV is superiors than IRR as it assumes cash flow s are reinvested at the cost of capital which is more realistic than being able to reinvest at a higher rate( usually) in the IRR. Thus, NPV will be more effective to measure project prospect. There are a number of projects for which using IRR is not as effective as using NPV to discount cash flows. IRRs major limitation is also its greatest strength: it uses one single  discount rate to evaluate every investment. Practically, IRR is superior, as it is easier to understand, though more difficult to calculate as trial and error approach is used to find the IRR. The NPV method is inherently complex and requires assumptions at each stage discount rate, likelihood of receiving the cash payment, etc. The IRR method simplifies projects to a single number that management can use to determine whether or not a project is economically viable. The result is simple, but for any project that is long-term,  that has multiple cash flows at different discount rates, or that has uncertain cash flows in fact, for almost any project at all simple IRR isnt good for much more than  presentation value, therefore, IRR is less effective than the NPV. For payback period method, there are two main problems associated with it: It ignores any benefits that occur after the payback period and, therefore, does not measure profitability and ignores the time value of money. Whereas for discounted payback period method, it considers the time value of money and the riskiness of the projects cash flows (through the cost of capital) but no concrete decision criteria that indicate whether the investment increases the firms value and it requires an estimate of the cost of capital in order to calculate the payback and ignores cash flows beyond the discounted payback period. In general, each method has the certain extent of effectiveness on project prospect measurement. Question 8 a)Current ratio = Current Assets/Current Liabilities = 146,438,269/220,500,307 = 0.664 A ratio of 0.664 means that for every $1 owned by the firm, it has $0.664 of current assets that can be converted into cash to meet these debt obligation, so company can not cover its debt now. b) Quick ratio = (CurrentAssets-Inventory-Prepaid Expenses)/Current Liabilities = (146,438,269-59,716,920)/ 220,500,307 = 0.393 A ratio of 0.393 means that each dollars of short-term debt is backed by $0.393 of cash or near-cash assets. c) Inventory Turnover= Cost of Goods sold/Ending Inventory =333,027,693/59,716,920 =5.577 A ratio of 5.577 times means that during the year, on the average, the company sell its inventory 5.577 times. Number of days it takes to sell its stock are 365/5.577=65.4. d) Profit Margin =Gross Profit/Net Sales =65,423,180/1,254,805,671 =0.052 $1 net sales generate $0.052 towards covering operating expenses and the excess contribute to net profit. e) Return on assets =Net operating profit before interest/ending total assets = (44,815,036+41,737,790)/1,612,578,813 =0.054 Every $1 asset generates a profit of $0.054. f) Return on common stockholders equity = net profit after tax/ending ordinary stockholders equity = 44,815,036/516,770,461 =0.087 It means that every $1 invested by the ordinary stockholder earns a net profit of $0.087 g) Debt to total asset ratio =total liabilities/total asset =1,095,808,352/1,612,578,813 =0.680 It means that 68% of the total asset are finance by borrowing as the percentage of assets financed by creditors increases, the riskiness of the company increases. h) Times interest earned = (Net profit before deducting interesttax/interest expense = (44,815,036+41,737,790)/ 41,737,790 =2.074 It means that recurring income is 2.074 times of interest payment. i) Asset Turnover =revenue/total asset =1,254,805,671/1,612,578,813 =0.778 This means that companies with low profit margins tend to have high asset turnover, it indicates pricing strategy. This ratio is more useful for growth companies to check if in fact they are growing revenue in proportion to sales by 0.778 times. ( 2497 words)

MAMLD1 Mutation and Phenotypes of Hypospadias

MAMLD1 Mutation and Phenotypes of Hypospadias The relationship between clinical phenotypes and mutations of MAMLD1 in children with hypospadias Yong-fen Lv, Lu-lu Cui, Pin Li* Department of Endocrinology, Shanghais Children Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University Acknowledgements: The work was financially supported by the key project of Shanghai municipal health bureau (2011111), youth project of Shanghai municipal health bureauà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’major issue subprojects of Shanghai science and technology commission (12411952408), Yangtze river delta research project of Shanghai science and technology commission (13495810300). Abstract Purpose: To verify the relationship between clinical phenotypes of hypospadias and mutations of MAMLD1. Methods: Seventy-two patients were diagnosed to be hypospadias in department of endocrinology and department of urinary surgery in our hospital. Among all the patients, 69 were with normal karyotype and enrolled as the studied group. Fifty healthy boys were employed as the controls. Peripheral Blood were collected for DNA extraction. For the studied group, PCR primer was designed and direct sequencing was performed for screening for MAMLD1 mutations in six coding exons and the flanking region. Those mutated exons were examined for the control group. Results: Thirty-five of all the 72 patients (48.6 %) were isolated hypospadias. The other 37 cases (51.4%) were complicated by other genitourinary system malformations, including 12 cases with micropenis and/or underdeveloped testicles. Abnormal karyotype was identified in 3 patients, and all were karyotype as 46, XX (SRY+ in 1 case and SRY- in 2 cases). Six types of MAMLD1 mutations were detected in exon 2, 3, 5, 7 in studied group, including c.5A>G (p.D2G), IVS4-364C/A, c.1910A>Gà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ p.N637S), c.2208T>C, c.2227 G>A (p.E742K) and IVS8-144C/T. All were single nucleotide polymorphism except c.5A>G (p.D2G), a newly discovered point mutation. The frequency of IVS4-364C/A was significantly different between patients and controls, and it was also significantly different between patients with and without micropenis and/or underdeveloped testicles. Conclusion: Chromosome abnormality is not the leading cause of other genitourinary system malformations complicated with hypospadias. Mutations of MAMLD1 maybe closely related to hypospadias in Chinese. c.5Aà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã… ¾Gà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã‹â€ p.D2Gà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °is the newly discovered point mutation in this work. IVS4-364C/A is associated with underdeveloped testicles and/or micropenis in hypospadias patients. Introduction Hypospadias is one of the most common congenital genitourinary system malformations in males, with incidence 1†°Ãƒ ¯Ã‚ ½Ã… ¾1%. As one of the Juvenile-types of testicular dysgenesis syndrome,(1-3) the prevalence of hypospadias is obviously increasing in these years. From 1987 to 2001, the prevalence rate was doubly increased in China.(4) Hypospadias will lead to different degrees of genital malformation, and the clinical phenotypes vary when with other complications. For instance, besides the general signs of hypospadias, e.g., ectopic ureteral orifice, phallocampsis, redundant dorsal prepuce, etc, the patient may be also suffered from other malformations including penoscrotal transposition, cryptorchidism, hydrocele, oblique inguinal hernia, micropenis and underdeveloped testicles. Hypospadias is a complicated disease due to various causes. The causes of most cases are not able to be verified, especially for those mild cases. For these cases, environmental factors, endocrine fa ctors and abnormal gene expression may be the leading causes.(5) The sex differentiation of males is a continuous series of processes related on the balancing and interaction of various genes like SRY, WTl, ATF3, SF-1, etc. MAMLD1, which is previously called chromosome X open reading frame6 (Cxorf6), is the important candidate gene widely studied recently. This gene is located in Xq28,(6,7) with molecular length of 157898 bp and containing 8 exons, among which exon 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 are coding exons. MAMLD1 is initially detected in patients with X-linked myotubular myopathy. The reproductive systems of patients are normally developed with mutations in Myotubularin MTM-1, while different degrees of malformations occur in cases with deletion of MTM1 gene.(8-11) The subsequent experiments indicated that, for patients with 46, XY disorder of sex development (DSD), except MAMLD1, no other candidate genes were found in the deletion region. These results indicate that MAMLD1 is the perfect candidate gene for the study of 46, XY DSD, especially for hypospa dias. This work aimed to evaluate the mutations of MAMLD1 and clinical phenotypes in children with hypospadias in China, and thus to illustrate the role of MAMLD1 mutation in hypospadias. Methods Patients Seventy-two children with hypospadias admitted to Shanghai Childrens Hospital Affiliated to Jiaotong University from March 2011 to December 2012 were enrolled in this study. Definite diagnosis was based on the clinical signs, and patients with adrenogenital syndrome were excluded through clinical examination. Clinical examination Clinical survey was performed including patient’s complain, present medical history, past medical history, personal history, family history, birth history, mother’s medical history in pregnancy, previous exposure to environmental pollution, etc. Physical examination was performed to measure the hight, weight, heart rate, blood pressure and the status of gonad development, etc. For adolescent, the development of secondary sexual characteristics was also assessed. Regular auxiliary examinations were performed including blood and urine routine test, biochemistry test, gonadal hormone level, adrenal cortex function and abdominal ultrasound exam, etc. Karyotype analysis and detection of SRY gene Lymphocytes were isolated from peripheral blood of patients, cultured and smeared on slides, and G-bands were produced by treatment with trypsin. Thirty split-phases were selected for each case, and karyotype analysis was performed according to ISCN-1995. SRY gene detection was performed for all the patients. Screening for MAMLD1 mutations The gene sequence of MAMLDI was obtained from National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), which was the same as obtained from Ensembl Genome Browser: NC_000023.10 (NCBI) versus ENSG00000013619 (Ensembl release 70-January 2013). Primers were designed for the coding exon 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 of MAMLD1. DNA extraction was performed using TIANamp Blood DNA Kit (TIANGEN Biotech (Beijing) Co., Ltd, China) and purity test was done. Ploymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed with use of LONGgene A300 PCR and Premix Ex Taq Version2.0 (TaKaRa D332A), GC buffer (TaKaRa DRR20GC1) and rTag (TaKaRa DR001BM), 35 cycles of denaturation at 94à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ for 30 seconds,extension at 72à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ for 60 seconds. Mutations were identified in the six coding exons and flanking regions of MAMLD1, and those mutated exons were examined for the control group. Statistical analysis The SPSS 18 software was used for statistical evaluation. Chi-square test was used to compare the two groups, frequency of single nucleotide polymorphism between the two groups was analyzed using Fisher Exact test, and differences were considered statistically significant when the p-value was G (p.D2G), IVS4-364C/A (rs1209024), c.1910A>G (p.N637S), c.2208T>C, c.2227 G>A (p.E742K, rs5925166) and IVS8-144C/T (rs658748). Two types of mutations were detected in exon 5 and 7 in all healthy controls, including c.1910 A>G (p.N637S, rs2073043) and c.2208T>C. Among all the mutations, c.5A>G (p.D2G) was a newly discovered point mutation, others were all single nucleotide polymorphism. The studied group compared to the control group, the frequency analyzed by Fisher Exact test, the P value for IVS4-364C/A, c.1910A>G (p.N637S), c.2208T>C, c.2227 G>A (p.E742K) and IVS8-144C/T were 0.002, 0.638, 0.362, 1 and 0.509 respectively. Therefore, the frequency of IVS8-144C/T was significantly different be tween the two groups, and the frequency of the other 4 SNPs were not significantly different between the two groups. Relationship between mutations of MAMLD1 and clinical phenotypes of hypospadias One case with c.5A>G (p.D2G) was isolated hypospadias, the urethral opening position was located at the middle segment of penis. Due to the limited number of mutation cases, the sample size should be increased to study the relationship between c.5A>G (p.D2G) and phenotypes of hypospadias. Analyzed by Chi-squared test with Yates continuity correction, the frequency of IVS4-364C/A was significantly different between patients with and without micropenis and/or underdeveloped testicles (p=0.001). Discussion Chromosome abnormality and karyotype change is one of the causes of hypospadias. Till now, ten types of chromosome abnormalities were confirmed involving chromosome 1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13 19, 20, 21, X, Y, etc. In the studied 72 patients, abnormal karyotype was identified in 3 patients, and all were karyotype as 46, XX (SRY+ in 1 case and SRY- in 2 cases). For these three patients, uterus and ovary were not found through the laparoscopic exploration. Therefore, they were diagnosed to be 46, XX male sex reversal syndrome. Karyotype analysis is important for hypospadias patients with sex reversal syndrome in exploring candidate gene and pathogenesis, in clinical diagnosis as well as in making therapeutic plan. However, there are only 3 cases with karyotype abnormality in the 72 patients studied, which means chromosome abnormality is not the leading cause of hypospadias. MAMLD1 is initially detected in patients with X-linked myotubular myopathy. The reproductive systems of patients are normally developed with mutations in Myotubularin MTM-1, while different degrees of malformations occur in cases with deletion of MTM1 gene.(8-11) Except MAMLD1, no other candidate genes were found in the deletion region. These results indicate that MAMLD1 is the perfect candidate gene for the study of 46, XY DSD, especially for hypospadias. In the works of Fukami et al., three nonsense mutations were detected, i.e., p.E124X, p.Q197X and p.R653X, in 4 XY DSD cases, involving micropenis and hypospadias with urethral opening position located on scrotum and the joint at penis and scrotum.(12) Kalfa et al. have studied the mutations of MAMLD1 in hypospadias patients and discovered 3 mutations, including p.V432A, p.E109fsX121 and P.531ins3Q, and they proposed that 10 percent of all the severe hypospadias cases was caused by mutations of MAMLD1.(13) In the study of Chen et al., three mutations of MAMLD1 were discovered, i.e., p.Q529K, p.D686D and noncoding region c.2065+8a>t, in 99 Swedish with hypospadias.(14) However, this is not the case in China. Qian et al. have studied the mutations of MAMLD1 in 100 cases of isolated hypospadias,(15) where 200 healthy participants were randomly selected as control. In their work, two point mutations, c.1699C>T and c.1985A>G, were detected and all were SNPs, and statistical analysis revea led that MAMLD1 is not the candidate gene for isolated hypospadias in China. The different results may be due to the different inclusion criteria of studied population between China and abroad, i.e., the studied populations of foreign works were mostly composed by hypospadias cases complicated by other genitourinary system malformations, including gonadal dysgenesis, while mostly isolated hypospadias cases were selected in the works of Chinese. In this study, a new point mutation c.5A>G was detected in exon 2 of one patient, and this mutation was not found in controls. The mutation makes the second amino acid position, originally the hydrophilic negatively charged aspartic acid, substituted by a neutrally charged glycine. For various species, the second amino acid position in exon 2 of MAMLD1 is highly conserved, and analyzed via polyphen, the mutation c.5A>G (p.D2G) of MAMLD1 is predicted to be probably damaging with a score of 0.996 from HumDiv and 0.993 from HunVar, which indicates that c.5A>G (p.D2G) is highly related to hypospadias. SIFT predicts that the mutation can affect protein function, since there is no protein diversity on the site (supplementary figure 20). The case with c.5Aà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã… ¾G was isolated hypospadias, and the urethral opening was located in the middle segment of penis. A big sample size and the information of the exact protein function are required to elucidate whether c.5A>G (p.D2G) of MAMLD1 is the cause of isolated hypospadias and its role in human sexual differentiation. The meaningful SNP detected in this work is the full mutation in introns close to exon 3, i.e., IVS4-364C/A (rs1209024), in 12 patients, which is not found in controls. The 12 cases including 2 cases with anterior hypospadias, 9 cases middle urethral openings and 1 case posterior urethral opening. Among all the 12 patients, 6 were complicated by 2 other malformations, 8 cases were complicated by micropenis and/or underdeveloped testicles. Generally, introns are non-coding sections of a gene, which are removed before the mature mRNA can be transported, thus do not exist in the mRNA sequence. However, there may be several mini genes in some introns, the so called genes-within-genes. The frequency of IVS4-364C/A was significantly different between patients and controls, and it was also significantly different between patients with and without micropenis and/or underdeveloped testicles. Therefore, two possibilities could be speculated, the first is that there may be coding sequence relat ed to micropenis and/or underdeveloped testicles in the introns close to exon 3 of MAMLD1, the second is that the mutation could affect mRNA shear mode, thus lead to the change of protein function. Next step of our study plan is to verify whether the mutation could affect mRNA shear mode through reverse transcription, amplification and sequencing of extracted mRNA. References 1. Skakkebaek NE, Rajpert-De ME, Main KM. Testicular dysgenesis syndrome: an increasingly common developmental disorder with environmental aspects. Hum Reprod 2001;16:972-8. 2. Sharpe RM. Pathways of endocrine disruption during male sexual differentiation and masculinization. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab 2006;20:91-110. 3. Sharpe RM, Skakkebaek NE. Testicular dysgenesis syndrome: mechanistic insights and potential new downstream effects. Fertil Steril 2008;89(2 Suppl):e33-8. 4. Wu YQ, Dai L, Wang YP, Liang J, Zhu J, Wu DS. Secular Trends of Hypospadias in Chinese Perinatals. J Sichuan Univ (Med Sci Edi) 2005;36:274-6. 5. Liang WQ, Ji CY, Zhang JM, et al. The correlation between the type of hypospadias and external genital system malformations. Chin J Urol 2011;32:126-9. 6. Laporte J, Kioschis P, Hu LJ, et al. Cloning and char acterization of an alternatively spliced gene in proximal Xq28 deleted in two patients with intersexual genitalia and myotubular myopathy. Genomics 1997;41:458–62. 7. Laporte J, Guiraud-Chaumeil C, Vincent MC, et al. Mutations in the MTM1 gene implicated in X-linkedmyotubular myopathy. ENMC International Consortium on Myotubular Myopathy. European NeuroMuscular Center. Hum Mol Genet 1997;6:1505-11. 8. Bartsch O, Kress W, Wagner A, et al. The novelcontiguous gene syndrome of myotubular myopathy(MTM1), male hypogenitalism and deletion in Xq28: report of the first familial case. Cytogenet Cell Genet 1999;85:310-4. 9. Bates PA, Kelley LA, MacCallum RM, et al. Enhancement of protein modeling by human intervention inapplying the automatic programs 3D-JIGSAW and3D-PSSM. Proteins 2001;S5(Suppl 5):39-46. 10. Biancalana V, Caron O, Gallati S, et al. Characterisation of mutations in 77 patients with X-linked myotubular myopathy, including a family with a very mild phenotype. Hum Genet 2003;112:135-42. 11. Hu LJ, Laporte J, Kress W, et al. Deletions in Xq28 in two boys with myotubular myopathy and abnormal genital development define a new contiguous gene syndrome in a 430 kb region. Hum Mol Genet 1996;5:139-43. 12. Fukami M, Wada Y, Miyabayashi K, et al. CXorf6 is a causative gene for hypospadias. Nat Genet 2006;38:1369-71. 13. Kalfa N, Liu B, Klein O, et al. Mutations of CXorf6 are associated with arrange of severities of hypospadias. Eur J Endocrinol 2008;159:453-8. 14. Chen Y, Thai HT, Lundin J, et al. Mutational study of the MAMLD1-gene in hypospadias. Eur J Med Genet 2010;53:122-6. 15. Qian C, Lin HW, Sun P, et al. Research of MAMLD1 gene in Hypospadias. J Clin Pediatr Surg 2012;11:106-11. Figure Legends Figure 1. Mutations of MAMLD1, the number represents the exon serial number, the black area represents the coding region. Table 1à ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã… ½Clinic phenotypes of 72 patients with hypospadias Table 2. Patients complicated by other genitourinary system malformations Table 3. Mutations of MAMLD1 gene screened in patients and controls

The Cherry Orchard :: essays research papers

In drama â€Å" The Cherry Orchard† , Lopakhin and Madame Ranevsky are clashing individuals, who are not to be judged as either good or bad. Both characters are human, having honorable traits. Lopakhin and Madame Ranevsky's characters are incompatible in the other's mind. Madame Ravensky is a member of the falling aristocracy who is a lost romantic trapped in a fantasy world on the orchard while forgetting her troubles in the "real" world. Lopakhin is a money driven, sometimes vulgar, and socially rising individual. Lopakhin is trying to make a future by overcoming his past, but remains genuine and practical in his offering help. The orchard is a focal piece in the play, hence the name "The Cherry Orchard." The orchard is to be sold in a month after Madame Ravensky's arrival. Lopakhin believes that the only way the orchard estate can be saved is by chopping down the cherry trees and breaking up the property, which he intends to do if he buys the orchard. Madame Ravensky would rather the orchard be lost completely than changed from how it will remain in her memories forever. The orchard haunts Madame Ravensky. The orchard is where her son died, which is the saddest thing in her life, but at the same time the orchard was where Madame Ravensky grew up. She remembers all the innocence she had at the orchard, and the orchard would not be the same if it changed. No one can bring back the orchard in her family and she won't save it because the orchard is merely a memory. She is dropping in class as seen in her fifth floor apartment, but will still put on a pitying facade shown by her tipping a rupel. She seems ignorant, yet confident in her impracticality, because she loves the orchard so much but does not want to save it. This is true because Madame Ravensky may not want to save it. Her son died on the orchard as well as the orchard is where she used to live prosperously and like a little girl in her innocence and no worries. It is conceivable that she may not want to save the orchard and just keep it in her memories as she moves back to France excepting her fall in society but still living, acting wealthy. She the orchard reminds Madame Ravensky of the romantic times of her life and wants to hold onto them one last time.

How Changing the Structure of an Organization Can Provide a Satisfying

The people employed within a company hold the key to a more productive and efficient organization. The way in which people are managed and developed at work has major effects upon quality, customer service, organizational flexibility and costs. For any employee to be successful, businesses are starting to recognize the need for employees to be fully engaged within the company and are constantly seeking ways in which they can increase employee engagement and also motivate people to want to come to work rather than have to. Employee development is a process that has been created to help individuals within organizations to acquire and maintain a confidence and commitment that will improve performance and enhance the skills and knowledge base of the individuals and the organization as a whole. Developing people is therefore a critical process because it allows individuals to benefit in terms of personal competence, growth, adaptability and continual employability, thus creating a sens e of job satisfaction. Within this essay we will be looking at key strategies that organizations adopt in order to successfully develop and engage their staff so as to benefit both the individual and the company as a whole. `I was always conscious that I was making people come to work when they did not want to. They would rather be doing other things. So we created the conditions whereby people not only had to come to work in order to earn a living - they also wanted to come to work.' Ricardo Semler (1992) To improve the motivation and performance in the workplace people development should be business led and strategic. Longer term goals and perspectives give coherency and direction to its employees over time. Furthermore, vision is the p... ...iend at work'. If you put all this into place you would cultivate what the Gallup organisation illustrates as `employee engagement'. i.e. an employee who is entirely concerned and passionate about their occupation. The essence of Peter Senge's views are that the majority of people would like to feel as motivated about their work as they do about their lives. Major organisations can adopt clear objectives in an attempt to create a engaged workforce, however through my own research I have discovered that the areas I have touched upon are just tip of the iceberg in terms creating an environment in which people will wake up on a Monday morning with the same feel good factor that is present at the weekend. In an ideal world the preferred type of organisation is one that listens to and reflects upon the heartbeat of the organisation - its employees and what they value.

Report on wide screen displays

A widescreen image is a movie, computing machine, or telecasting image with a width-to-height facet ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy facet ratio provided by 35mm movie. Screen Aspect Ratio is fundamentally a step of the horizontal length of a telecasting ( or movie ) screen, in relation to its perpendicular tallness. In other words, a traditional telecasting has a Screen Aspect Ratio of 4Ãâ€"3. This means that a traditional telecasting has a screen that is four units long for every three units in tallness. Converting these units into inches would ensue in measurings of 4-inches by 3-inches or 8-inches by 6-inches, and on-and-on. By the same item, on widescreen telecasting ( such as today ‘s HDTVs ) , the Screen Aspect Ratio is 16 units long for every 9 units in tallness, or 16-inches by 9-inches, 32-inches by 18-inches, etc†¦ A 16Ãâ€"9 screen aspect ratio therefore consequences in a wider image show that a 4Ãâ€"3 facet ratio. This wider image show allows both films originally filmed in widescreen and new, widescreen telecasting scheduling, to be displayed more accurately.Latest development in widescreen show:Widescreen LCD shows:BARCO ‘s LC series of High-Resolution LCD shows has been specifically designed for usage in a broad assortment of professional applications. The LC household nowadayss chip, clear and color-accurate images on 42 † , 47 † and 56 † screen sizes. Dedicated versions with HD-SDI inputs are available. Having some of the most advanced LCD engineering available today, BARCO ‘s LC series stands for the ultimate in item. The LC series consists of a 42 † and 47 † show in native full high definition ( 1920Ãâ€"1080 pels ) and a 56 † show in quad full high definition ( 3840Ãâ€"2160 pels ) .Benefits:High brightness High contrast, even in high ambient visible radiation environments High declaration and pel denseness Frame lock and firing mechanism functionality Low power ingestion Long life-timeExamples:56 † quad full High Definition LCD show LC-5621 42 † native High Definition LCD show LCN-42 47 † native High Definition LCD show LCN-47 42 † native High Definition LCD show with extra HD-SDI inputs LCS-42 47 † native High Definition LCD show with extra HD-SDI inputs LCS-47Technology used in broad screen show merchandise:Plasma screen engineeringLED engineeringCRT ( cathode beam tubing )Liquid crystal displayPlasma screen engineering:Flat panel plasma show is the latest show engineering and the best manner to accomplish shows with first-class image quality and big, level screen sizes that are easy viewable in any environment. Plasma panels are an array of cells, known as pels, which are composed of three bomber pels, matching to the colourss red, green, and blue. Gas in the plasma province is used to respond with phosphors in each bomber pel to bring forth coloured visible radiation ( ruddy, green, or blue ) . These phosphors are the same types used in cathode beam tubing ( CRT ) devices such as telecastings and standard computing machine proctors. You get the rich dynamic colourss that you expect. Each bomber pel is separately controlled by advanced electronics to bring forth over 16 million different colourss. All of this means that you get per fect images that are easy viewable in a show that is less than six inches thick.LED engineering:There are many consumer advantages to LEDs over incandescent or fluorescent visible radiation bulbs. LED lights consume much less energy. They are 300 per centum more efficient than a compact fluorescent visible radiation ( CFL ) , and 1,000 per centum more efficient than an candent bulb. They have a really long life, about 50,000 hours of usage at 70 per centum of their original power. ( LEDs do n't fire out or spark, they merely melt. ) This works out to eight hours a twenty-four hours for 13 old ages at 70 per centum power. A typical 60-watt incandescent bulb may last about 1,000 hours. LED lighting contains no quicksilver or other toxins. LEDs emit no extremist violet ( UV ) visible radiation, so they do n't pull bugs. They do n't bring forth heat, so they are cool to the touch. They do n't bring forth wireless frequence moving ridges, so they do n't interfere with wirelesss or telecasting broadcasts. They besides are immune to quivers and dazes.CRT ( cathode beam tubing ) :The Cathode Ray Tube ( CRT ) is a vacuity tubing incorporating an negatron gun ( a beginning of negatrons ) and a fluorescent screen, with internal or external agencies to speed up and debar the negatron beam, used to make images in the signifier of light emitted from the fluorescent screen. The image may stand for electrical wave forms ( CRO ) , images ( telecasting, computing machine proctor ) , radar marks and others. The CRT uses an evacuated glass envelope which is big, deep, heavy, and comparatively delicate.LCD ( Liquid-crystal show ) :Liquid-crystal show telecastings ( LCD Television ) a re telecasting sets that use LCD engineering to bring forth images. LCD telecastings are thinner and lighter than CRTs of similar show size, and are available in much larger sizes. This combination of characteristics made LCDs more practical than CRTs for many functions, and as fabrication costs fell, their eventual laterality of the telecasting market was all but guaranteed. In 2007, LCD telecastings surpassed gross revenues of CRT-based telecastings worldwide for the first clip, and their gross revenues figures relative to other engineerings are speed uping. LCD TVs are rapidly displacing the lone major rivals in the large-screen market, the plasma show panel and rear-projection telecasting. Liquid crystal displaies are, by far, the most widely produced and sold telecasting engineering today, forcing all other engineerings into niche functions.Benefits of the WidescreenWhen used for amusement, a widescreen show is in its component when demoing widescreen DVD films in their intended 16:9 facet ratio. This means a bigger image more comfort and less otiose infinite ( less or no black bands on either side of the image ) . The widescreen show besides makes it easier to redact and see bird's-eye images and may extinguish troublesome horizontal scrolling wholly. Another benefit of the widescreen show is apparent when it comes to serious work – the ability to expose two Windowss side by side and to drag and drop ( or copy Ns ‘ paste ) information without holding to exchange between them is invaluable.

Engaging Students In Learning Process Essay

Abstract Technology plays a great role in education. Students get motivated when technology based education is given in the classroom. WebQuests involve inquiry-based learning in which students are encouraged to learn in group. The present paper provides information about the use of WebQuest as an educational technology. Various aspects of WebQuests are covered in this paper such as definition of WebQuest, components, use of WebQuest as a constructivist tool, implementation of WebQuest and advantages and disadvantages of WebQuests. Recommendations are given at the end of the paper. The author also provides a self-made WebQuest for year 9-10 students attached to this paper. Engaging Students in Learning Processing Using WebQuests Introduction Technology has been used as a teaching tool in schools since many years. It is very important to know the ways through which the technology can be employed to bring new opportunities to students to enhance their learning abilities. Technology offers numerous benefits to students. Technology offers tools that can be used to enhance the learning ability of a student. Thinking skills can also be enhanced with the use of technology in education. Students receive a variety of learning activities are authentic too. Students are encouraged for the regulation of their learning process depending on their abilities (Cho & Jonassen 2002). Despite numerous benefits, technology possesses some challenges too. Students usually do not wait to take proper guidelines from the instructor and they start using technology in their classrooms immediately. Thus they have to face a large number of difficulties too. It is believed that the traditional way to assess the performance of students need to be shifted from paper and pencil to technology based methods because a large number of students in schools and colleges are now using technology such as word processors and spreadsheets in doing their work. Thus the traditional method seems to be failed as this method can not explain and assess what the students have learned from technical way. The paper and pencil mode of assessment is left behind (Almeida, Vesu, and Ponte, 2003). Another study explained that technology based education is quite promising because it can help foster the creation of communities and the learners become able to perform several tasks such as: learners get more open opportunities to enhance the communication process in the classroom; discussions among students and between students and teachers may be encouraged; and the authority is shared among students and teacher because the classroom is now more rich in resources (Brooks & Brooks, 1999).   This paper provides information about the use of WebQuest as an educational technology used in the classroom. WebQuest Definition WebQuest can be defined as a tool that is effective for learning in an online inquiry-oriented environment. This can be explained as: in this type of learning, students are encouraged for the evaluation and exploration of required information with the help of World Wide Web in their classrooms (Chandler 2003). According to Tom March, Circa (2003): â€Å"A WebQuest is a scaffolded learning structure that uses links to essential resources on the World Wide Web and an authentic task to motivate students’ investigation of a central, open-ended question, development of individual expertise and participation in a final group process that attempts to transform newly acquired information into a more sophisticated understanding. The best WebQuests do this in a way that inspires students to see richer thematic relationships, facilitate a contribution to the real world of learning and reflect on their own meta-cognitive processes (p.1).† WebQuests are of varying lengths. Sometimes they are short enough to cover just in one class period and sometimes they require a month for completion. Group work is usually encouraged in WebQuests as each member of the work group is assign specific tasks to perform. The teacher is responsible for the selection of the specific resources prior the WebQuest use in the classroom. Thus, students are given the time to use the information and they need not to spend any time to look for the specific material (Dodge 1997). Source: (Tom March, 2007). Components and Types of WebQuests   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are six important components of WebQuest. They are named as:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Introduction:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this section, background information is provided to the learners. Students are given specific tasks and roles to motivate them. For example: â€Å"You are a geologist looking for volcanoes. Students are provided with the overview in the beginning that tells them about their goals they have to achieved in their learning process.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Introduction is presented to the students in such a way that they desire to perform that activity along with fun. Students are assigned the projects that are relevant to their previous experiences, students, future plans or ideas. When students receive projects of their interests, they get involved easily in them. Thus it is the main purpose of the introduction section of each WebQuest to motivate each student by exciting and engaging them. When the WebQuest is based on a longer period such as over a month then the introduction is given daily to the students to refresh their memory and to let them find the most appropriate material for their project. In long-term WebQuest, real world components such as print media and guest lectures are given to the students along their online investigation. The addition of real world components is very important for long-term WebQuests because if students are allowed to rely only on the online investigations then they may consider the meanings of the lesson as something unreal. Thus, in a long-term WebQuest projects, introduction is given daily to the students to keep them up-to-date with all the information and necessary material for they motivation (Dodge 2001).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Task Task is the second component of a WebQuest. The purpose of this component is to inform the students about the lessons to be learned till the end of the project.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Initially, the teachers have to look for the specific information that is required in a specific project. Then they design the activity that requires the information gathered from online resources. Students are given the task that is to be performed by searching the information online. The task is designed in a way to make it doable, means that each task must has to be accomplished.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The most difficult part in the creation of a WebQuest project is the development of the main research question. This part is quite creative and needs a certain amount of time to search whether the question can be answered. Students can be asked to do a variety of tasks such as they may need to circulate the information they gathered on the website, they may be asked to work in collaboration with other online institution to perform specific research for the completion of a project and they may be asked to explain their research by using multimedia. The students are encouraged to complete their task in an interesting, appealing, visual and important manner.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Students should be given an example of a completed project. This given an idea to them how their project will look like after the completion. They become able to see the complete picture of the project in the beginning. They also come to know how they should perform to accomplish their task. It is great to show the students work of previous students. Teachers may also find the similar projects online done previously by other students as an example to show to their students. A large number of sample projects available for the students motivate them by showing them the efforts and achievements of other students. Students keep in mind the necessary steps they have to take to perform a specific task efficiently.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The teacher can use any successful project several times in different semesters and different classes. The project specifications can be modified each time. Students can be motivated by showing them the same project and challenge them to show a better project than the previous one (Jonassen & Rohrer-Murphy 1999).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Process   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Process is the third component of a WebQuest. In this component, the students are informed about all the steps that the students need to take for the completion of a project. Each step is surrounded by a number of links. It is advised for projects of longer duration that the teacher or one or two students demonstrate each step. Demonstration helps the students learn each step in a better manner and they become able to understand the written directions more easily (Kennedy 2004).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Resources   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is the fourth component of a WebQuest. In this component, a list of all the necessary resources that involve printed material and online resources are given to the students for the accomplishment of a specific task.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A separate section was allocated in the old WebQuests for the resources but now in the recent WebQuests, the resources are attached with the instructions in the Process section. The students can access those resources when they are to perform that step. Though online resource are very important but it is also a fact that non-Web resources are not less important. Resources should be of variety and thus the quality of WebQuests can be enhanced by the use of online and non-Web resources. Non-Web resources can be of different types such as models, audio cassettes, field trips, maps, sculptures, books etc. to motivate the students (Lara 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Evaluation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Evaluation is the fifth component of a WebQuest. Three types of student examples can be pointed out when the introduction of a WebQuest is presented. The three examples of students include exemplary, acceptable and unacceptable. During the introduction, students are clearly shown what is meant by an excellent work. They are given examples of exemplary and acceptable work thus clearing the vision of the students and to motivate them to work hard to achieve the excellence. Examples of unacceptable work are given to students to show them what type of work cannot be accepted and thus enabling the students to know about the minimum standards required to accomplish a task (Lipscomb 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conclusion   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This is the last component of a WebQuest. In this component, the students are asked to present their reflections about their work and the teachers are required to sum up the project. Students are given time to discuss their project thus following the constructivist approach that though learning is achieved by doing but learning can be enhanced by discussion of what has been done. Teachers usually encourage their students during the conclusion section to explain if they come up with more better ways to perform the same project (March 2000). WebQuest as a Constructivist Tool   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The constructivism theory explains how learning is achieved by performing a study that involves scientific method and observation. According to the constructivist theory, people learn and understand different aspects of world by their own experiences and by showing their reflections on their experiences. When people find something new, they usually try to bring the new information with their previous experiences. Sometimes, they find the new thing more informative and thus discard the older one and sometimes they find the new information totally irrelevant and thus rely on their previous experiences. In each of the cases, people have to find out by themselves which one is correct and to find that they ask different questions, explore the resources and then come to a conclusion (Milson 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When constructivist approach is applied in the classroom, different types of teaching ways are explained that can enhance the learning process. The most common of the teaching way is to motivate the students to utilize effective techniques such as real-world examples to gather the information, then to reflect what they have come up with and then conclude what they have done. Students explain how the new idea has changed their previous understanding. It is very important for a teacher to be aware of the previous understandings of the students. Then the teacher guides the students to perform the activity that is based on their previous conceptions.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When teachers utilize constructivist approach, they always motivate their students to find out the role of the new activity in their learning process. Students usually get the position of expert learners in a constructivist classroom because they are to ask questions themselves. This type of learning broadens their learning process and they come to know how they have to learn (Molebash & Dodge 2003).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When students are constantly encouraged to reflect on their experiences then they seem to gain power. Strong abilities seem to build up in the students that motivate them for the integration of any new idea or information. Thus it can be said that the one of the most important role of teacher in the constructivist classroom is to motivate the students to experience by themselves and then learn from those experiences by reflecting on them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Conservative and traditional teachers usually criticize that the role of the teacher is dismissed in the learning. But constructivism encourages teachers to play their role more efficiently and their knowledge is highly valued. In constructivist approach, the teachers are required to motivate the students for the construction of the knowledge by themselves instead of finding out the facts that have been previously observed and noted. In a constructivist classroom, the students are encouraged to use problem solving skills and they are involved in inquiry-based learning.   These activities make the students able enough to test their ideas, reflect on their experience and present the conclusions. A constructivist classroom transforms students from passive recipients that receive information just by sitting in the classroom and listening to their teachers to active participants that not only listen to their teacher but they also get involved in searching information by using interesting methods (Ngeow & Kong 2001).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There is a misconception about the constructivist theory that it forces the students to reject the older ideas and to replace them with new one such as they are asked to reinvent the wheel. But the fact is the constructivist theory does not ask the students for the reinvention of the wheel but with the help of this theory the students come to know how to use the wheel. Real world examples are given to the students that clear their ideas about how the wheels can be used in their daily lives. Thus they learn from their experience, present reflections on their experience and then come up to a conclusion that is based on their experiences.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Constructivist theory is very different from other traditional ideas of education and learning. The focus is put on students rather the teachers in a constructivist classroom. The students are no longer passive students that sit in the classroom and ingest the knowledge provided by their teacher only. They are encouraged in the constructivist classroom how they should struggle to search for information.   The role of the teacher now changes to facilitator who is involved in helping the students rather them forcing them to understand what the teacher says. Constructivist theory can be easily implemented in the WebQuest. Constructivist teachers ask students to initiate a WebQuest project. Students are asked different questions and they are encouraged to find the answers. Students are guided in a way to let them find the answers of the questions independently. Different types of teaching techniques can be used in a constructivist classroom using WebQuest projects. The techniques involve: students are encouraged for the formulation of the questions by themselves. Thus they are encouraged to enquiry-based learning. They are given the freedom to express their learning in multiple meaningful ways. Group work is highly encouraged and each student in a group performs a specific task (Peterson & Caverly 2003). Students are given freedom to find out new things for themselves. Students are given free hand to do the experiments, they can ask questions, and they can do the things that are often considered as things not working. Teachers play different roles such as roles of moderators, coaches and they can also give suggestions to students to facilitate their learning process. In order to enhance the learning process of students, they should be able to participate fully in activities such as hands-on experiments. An important part of using WebQuest as a constructivist tool lies in the fact that students are given permission to give their reflections what they have done and then discuss on the conclusions. Students become experts as they are given complete opportunity to control their learning process. They choose their own path that is solely based on their reflections about their experiences. Teachers play a great role in the creation of an environment where the students are free to ask questions and give their reflections about their experiences. This can happen in private or in the form of group discussions. Teachers are also responsible for the creation of activities in a way that after performing those activities students become able to reflect their previous experiences. It is very important for the students to know what they have learned and how the learning process took place (Savery & Duffy 1995). As constructivism and WebQuest are based on the same theory, the main activity that is performed in a WebQuest classroom is to find the solution of the problems. Inquiry method is used to ask questions. A topic is investigated and then a large number of different types of resources is utilized to find out the solution of the questions. After exploring a certain topics, the students become able to conclude. When students explore questions again and again, new questions come to their mind. Students are encouraged in a WebQuest classroom to have new ideas and do experiments to prove that later shows that their ideas were not correct or valid. But this cannot be considered as a failure because the students have put their steps in the process of knowledge integration. Students are encouraged to work in collaboration with peers. The main reason to include group learning in constructivism is that students learn from the experiences from other students working in the same group besides learning from their own experiences (Vidoni & Maddux 2002). Implementation of WebQuest in School WebQuest can be implemented in schools. In order to implement WebQuest easily and successfully in a school by keeping in mind the following principles: The thinking level of a WebQuest must be higher. The information must be transferred from one domain to another domain. A WebQuest must be designed in such as a way that does not load the students with heavy burden of questions that make the students only surfing the internet or that involve calculations only. A good WebQuest will lead the students to gain information and be the students able to transform that information with the help of their own problem solving skills. Though the creation of WebQuest lessons require a lot of time but it is also a fact that once the teachers have created a lesson plan, they do not have to worry about the preparation of other lesson plans while the students are busy with their work. After the completion of a year, every thing will be all set. The teachers may need some amendments in the WebQuests that had been created in the previous year but it would not take much time and things will go smoothly. Learning through WebQuest is a new way for students as well as it is a new teaching method for teachers. The teachers must keep in mind that students cannot perform a task unless they are familiar with it. Students cannot be expected to perform every task in the correct manner in their first attempt. They need time to practice and the teachers need to have patience. in order to implement a WebQuest successfully, it is necessary to incorporate all the six essential components that have been described in this paper earlier (Scardamalia & Bereiter 1999). Advantages of WebQuests Though the creation of WebQuests requires a large amount of time but once the WebQuests have been created they can be used over and over with some minor changes. The teachers get rid of the daily worries for the lesson planning. Now they get enough time to act as facilitators and coaches to assist the students in their learning process. Tom March has explained the benefits of WebQuests as quoted below: â€Å"WebQuests will motivate your students! Students confront a complex and controversial real-world issue Students grapple with a central question that truly needs answering Students utilize real world, up-to-date resources on the Web (from experts, current reporting, and/or fringe groups) Students assume roles and must develop expertise Results of student work can be posted or sent to real people for feedback and evaluation. WebQuests are rooted in learning theory and good teaching practice Based upon elements of cognitive psychology and constructivism. You provide guidance on the thinking process you want your students to follow. (Prompting or Scaffolding) Students are exposed to a broad range of information, examples, and opinions; they construct their own meaning which connects with their prior knowledge and experiences. (Constructivism) Contain concrete instructional objectives and tasks. Students must transform information in some way, exercising higher order thinking skills like error analysis, comparison, and synthesis. Students work in cooperative learning groups which mirror real-life situations. By taking on roles, students become experts on a specific aspect of a large and complex topic. The students work in groups to solve problems, utilizing their different areas of expertise. (Similar to work situations in real life.) The work of individual students is important, as it adds to the quality of the group’s solution† (What are the benefits, p. 1) Disadvantages of WebQuests WebQuests cannot be used for the learning of simple definitions, simple procedures. They are also not the best way that could be used for teaching factual recall. As some parts of the curriculums are based on such simple things, they cannot be included in the designing of a WebQuest. The biggest hurdle in the designing of a WebQuest is the availability of time. It is very important to learn about the new tools. Many teachers do not get enough time to spend in learning about the new tools for the creation of a WebQuest (VanFossen 2004). Students should be able to read to a certain level in order to work on WebQuests. So it can be said that the creation of WebQuests is much easier for third grade and onwards than the junior grades because their reading abilities are limited at that stage. This type of disadvantage can be over come if a WebQuest is designed very carefully by using more visual sites with less or no words in it for the junior students with limited reading proficiency (Tomlinson 2000). Recommendations WebQuests appear to be highly effective in facilitating the learning process of students. Students tend to learn more in when technology is incorporated in education and WebQuests seem to be the best way. It is strongly recommended that all the schools should incorporate WebQuests in their standard curricula. 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