Cx Ima Bascxfdfd Essay Example

Cx Ima Bascxfdfd Essay It should be readable but in a proper discourse and with a proper display. The content of the textbook as we have already mentioned should be encyclopedic i. e. knowledge based facts, concepts, values and attitudes. There must be reading assignments, rewriting assignments, summaries, recalls and text included as teachable part of the textbook. The structure of a textbook is based on problem-solving technique. The coherence of a textbook needs clarity of ideas, i. e. readability with commenting words and phrases.A textbook should be appropriate to the topics by explaining in proper language and discourse, related with the previous knowledge and using graphs, illustrations, pictures, photographs to depict the concepts. Its talk should be friendly like â€Å"Have you ever been / heard†. It is called meta-discourse. Activities, questions, projects, intellectuals and emotional engagements should be placed as a part of teaching in a textbook. A textbook is not only a student â€Å" aid, it is also a teachers tool†, so a student should know that what he has to do with the text and a teacher should be given pedagogical points.Hence, it is recommendable that students comer, and teacher points should be given in a textbook though there may be a separate work book or a teachers guide. A textbook is a product for teaching learning process. It would be rather developed and not written. It should not be a piece of writing and not a piece of literature or mere 1 GUIDELINES FOR TEXTBOOKS AUTHORS Understanding Curriculum Standards – Benchmarks SLOs Standards The competencies by descriptive statements specifying broadly, the knowledge, skills and attitudes that students will acquire, shall know and be able to do in a particular key area during the course of study.These are qualitative in nature and sets out the learning targets. They may not be subject specific. Benchmarks The standards indicate what the students will accomplish at the end of each developmen t level. They are subject specific. SLOs The detailed statements describing what students are supposed to learn and be able to do at each grade level to achieve the specified benchmarks. They are activity specific and generally observable and measurable. 2 A Paradigm Shift From Traditional approaches: 1. Based on contents topics 2. Focus on objectives 3. Learning Medium â€Å"Words† 4.Focus on teaching 5. Teacher centered 6. One way approach 7. Reading, writing, communication and using arithmetic (skills) 8. Assessment of content knowledge simple understanding 9. Promote memorization Guidelines for textbooks authors To Standard based approaches: 1. Based on standards 2. Focus on SLOs 3. Learning Medium â€Å"Images† 4. Focus on learning 5. Student centered 6. Variety of approaches 7. Interpersonal, team work and problem solving skills 8. Assessment of content ,skills and attitudes, deeper understanding, reasoning and application 9. Promote thinking What is new in a T extbookFrom descriptive and reading approach to information mapping, Interactive elements, life skills activities, gender equity, brain teasers for initiating discussions, diagrams, illustrations, worked examples, Interesting information in Boxes, critical thinking problems and FAQs for effective Learning. COMPUTER SCIE ENGLISH 11 NCE 8It is a 10 great virtue to be helpful PUNJAB TEXTBOOK BOARD, LAHORE PUNJAB TEXT BOOK BOAR D, LAHORE 3 Guidelines for textbooks authors Qualities of a Textbook Writing a good textbook requires the skills of a subject specialist, a curriculum expert, a good teacher with classroom experience, and an imaginative author.Structured approach Active learning methodoloyg Development of critical thinking Improved teaching methodology Focus on skills development rather than rote memorization Pre-tested in field Active learning methodoloyg Gender balanced Active design and layout Interactive contents 4 Guidelines for textbooks authors NATIONAL CURRICULA 2006/07 E nvisage Textbooks O Providing knowledge which is useful for a developing society. O Inculcating problems-solving approach to create independent / critical thinking. O Creating skills and attitudes relevant with real life situation.O Reflecting innovative writing/modern production processes. O Containing upto date ; age appropriate text. O Based on conceptual assessment, thinking based exercises instead of fact / memory questions oriented only. STRATAGEM TO DEVELOP A TEXTBOOK Get help from the information super highway If you have access to internet, explore its nooks and carnies, such as e-mail, use Google, the worldwide web (www), and so on. The existence of www had search engine makes it easy to find services of information on any topic.To use a search engine, just type in one or more keywords or phrases, and the search engine looks over the millions of websites around the world to find those that mention these words or phrases; then you can visit those sites. The whole process ta kes only a few seconds. One URL is http://www. google. com and another is www. msn. com to search sites: It is very essential to be careful to give credit to the sources being used. If you copy material from the internet or from other sources and present it as your own, you stealing another persons property or you are misguided by another persons ideas.O Review all contemporary books for content prior to start work. O Assume students having no prior knowledge when presenting new term – define / explain as required. O Provide smooth transition from previous information covered and new information presented. CHAPTER OPENING O Describe SLOs at the beginning of each chapter clearly stating the objectives and skills to be achieved in the chapter. O Give a brief overview/preview/introduction/outlines of the chapter. O The chapter can also be opened by giving a case study/quotation or any other special feature. 5 Guidelines for textbooks authorsCHAPTER CORE O Add historical and curr ent dates of interest. O Include enough information to allow the reader to comprehend a specific concept maintaining breath and depth for addressing the expected learning outcomes of the National Curriculum. O Build vertical linkage between various concepts from lower to higher level and at the same time horizontal linkage of concepts of one discipline with the others. O Avoid overlapping of concepts vertically as well as horizontally. If need arises, give recall paragraphs. O Relate the concepts to students own experience and observation.O Textual matter should be harmonized reflecting unity and coherence, discussing diverse view points wherever appropriate. O Provide guidance, as necessary, on safety, health and environment requirement pertaining to the learning event. O Text and activities to demonstrate care and respect for the environment. COMMUNICATION O Fewer words are better. Be concise, use simple language which consists of short sentences. Prefer graded vocabulary. O Prese nt content using consistent nomenclature/ internationally accepted terminology/units. O Highlight the headings, sub-heading, key words, terms and definitions.For distinction use level heading â€Å"A† 4. 1, 4. 2level â€Å"B† 4. 1. 1, 4. 2. 1level â€Å"C† (a), (b), (c) (i), (ii), (iii)-and level â€Å"D† bold but unnumbered. ILLUSTRATIONS O Use the appropriate elements to promote comprehension – charts, tables, graphs, illustration, line drawings – cartoon types illustrations for children. Real life coloured photographs and illustrations make the substance vivid, attractive and easy to digest. O Draw figures to size and should be numbered as Fig. 4. 1, 4. 2, 4. 3 followed by captions, label if needed (font size 9).All figures to be cited in the text. 6 Guidelines for textbooks authors INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS O Pre-reading O Activities while reading O Headers and footers O Linkage of text and figures O Elaboration of concepts with examples O In teraction of text with society O Puzzles O Brain teasers O Quick quiz O â€Å"Do you know† in boxes O STS connections O Field trips O Clippings O Flash cards O Models O Work sheets O Flow charts O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O Labeling a diagram Peer discussion Problems solving Clipart/Cartoons / caricatures Tidbits – speech bubbles Review question–re-enforcement activities.Quotations Demonstrations Colourful pictures Group tasks Points to remember Role play Library research Mini projects Surveys Case studies Exhibition INFORMATION BOXES Make effort to make user friendly text and lively by quoting connections with society at appropriate places in boxes such as:v v v v v v Tidbits: to provide snippets of interesting and useful knowledge. Fascinating facts: creating a sense of wonder giving unbelievable information but true facts of the nature. Quick Quiz: question to recall, think and apply what they have learnt as well as to re-enforce by learning of key conce pts and principles.Point to ponder / Brain teaser: to encourage the art of thinking by mentioning live situations involving science applications. Did you know: Interesting relevant or additional information. Remember/Caution/Attention: The text needed to be emphasised. 7 Guidelines for textbooks authors Specimens of various boxed informations Respect the Earth, it is the only one we have. Tidbit Most abundant organizms in the world are bacteria One big tree fulfils oxygen needs of 36 children per day. The dead sea is highly saturated with salts. The crystals start appearing in it even with a slight decrease in the temperature.The workers in a noisy factory may suffer from â€Å"tinnitus† caused by long exposure to loud sounds. They must wear ear plugs to avoid further hearing loss while on job. Science Tidbits Grade IV The best example of solution of carbon dioxide in water is soda water Grade IX The weight of an average apple is nearly one newton. Grade IX A light year is th e distance covered by light in vacuum in one year. It equals 15 9. 46 X 10 m Grade IX The bullet train in Japan and France run over electromagnetic track instead of ordinary iron rails. Grade IX The friction in the human joints is much reduced due to the presence of a fluid – a natural lubrication.Grade IX The dead sea is highly saturated with salts. The crystals start appearing in it even with a slight decrease in the atmospheric temperature. 8 Guidelines for textbooks authors Fascinating Facts Sun showers as much energy on the earth in one hour as much as all other sources produce in one year. 1. 5 million children die every year from contaminated drinking water. One million atoms, if arranged one above the other, will have the thickness of a human hair. Matter in plasma state makes up much of the universe. The matter of Sun is also in Plasma state. Point to ponder Why touch-me-not is called so?Why do we feel cool when we sit under the fan wearing wet clothes? Why deserts n ights are cooler while the days are very hot? What would happen if photosynthesis has stopped? What would happen if there were no bacteria? Remember! Caution! Attention! The future of our children depends upon development without destruction of natural environment. Listening to loud music isharmcul,sounds above 85dB ar hazardous to hearing. Pop music isoft en 110dB or louder, so the potential of hearing damage is very real Noise can kill silently A 30dB sound is ten time more intense than 20dB sound but twice as loud.The planet Jupiter is not terrestrial body as our Earth but a gas-giant. The efficiency and productivity of the worker is badly affected by noisy environment. If a factory owner adopts noise control measure, the cost is paid back in the form of enhanced efficiency and productivity in addition to better health of the workers 9 Guidelines for textbooks authors Brain Teasers / Quick Quiz Why touch-me-not is called so? Why do we feel cool when we sit under the fan wearing w et clothes? Can we talk while standing on the moon as on earth? What would happen if photosynthesis has stopped? Which biomes act as the nature’s lungs?What would happen if Earth suddenly stops revolving around the Sun? Other Eye-catchers Remember Inexpensive foam earplugs can reduce noise level by 20dB to 25 dB. Caution: No plastic wrap Food should not be heated in the micro wave oven using plastic containers. Dioxins from the plastic are released which are highly poisonous for our body cells. Use Pyrex glass or ceramic containers only. Remember ! Radioisotopes are unstable isotope of an element emitting nuclear radiation. Did you know? These symbols are used to indicate the presence of radioactive material. 10 Guidelines for textbooks authors VARIOUS ACTIVITIESO Build process skills such as observation, measurement, data collection, analysis etc. through various types of activities or mini projects. Activities Emphasize Learning Through Visual Verbal Logical Kinaesthetic Au ditory Interpersonal Intrapersonal Pictures, colours and graphs Words/discussions/questionings Pattern, reasons, numbers Physical activity touch Through sound Through interaction with others Through independent work reflection/imagination O Student centred and activity-oriented text enhances quest of learning, develops ability to think scientifically and critically; and develops creativity.The first step towards scientific literacy is to engage the students in asking and answering meaningful questions starting with why, how and should. †¢ †¢ †¢ â€Å"Why† questions are related to scientific inquiry â€Å"How† questions address problem solving process â€Å"Should† questions indicates decision making Hands-on activities reinforce the understanding of concepts develop process skills. They are: Structural Inquiry: Guided Inquiry: Open Inquiry: Instruction are given to perform the activity without telling the expected outcome Students develop a pro cedure to investigate a problem selected by the teacher.Students identify a problem to investigate and design their own investigation. Types of Activities: 11 Guidelines for textbooks authors How to write an Inquiry? O Start with an open ended question or a demonstration. Allow responses and subsequent questions from students. O Involve students to collaborate on designing experiment or process. O Ask students to conduct experiment and or gather data. O Ask to locate, select, organize and present information from a variety of sources. O Allow students to analyze and interpret data. O Identify a problem, plan and carry out investigation for its solution.O Encourage students to identify pattern, report trends and draw inferences. O Allow discussion and information communication etc. O Finally ask the students to draw conclusion. A Sample Inquiry: Grade IX (Structural Inquiry) Material Procedure 1. Come to class with an electric kettle filled with water. Let students wonder! 2. Plug in the cord and switch on the kettle to do its job. Soon steam will begin to escape from the spout. 3. Get a cold, white ceramic plate and hold it up at a safe distance from the spout. Tilt it slightly. 4. Water droplets collect on the plate and soon begin to fall down. The water cycle 5.Now ask students what was happening? Facilitate them in making analogies: Kettle, Bodies of water, Electric socket, Sun, White ceramic plate, Clouds 6. Lead the students into the terminology: O O O O evaporation water vapor condensation precipitation Electric Kettle and white Ceramic Plate 7. Help them see the CYCLE 8. Distribute Worksheet 12 Guidelines for textbooks authors WORKSHEET Part A: Complete the sentences using the words below: Groundwater living things reservoirs Lakes and oceans water cycle 1. In the water cycle, water is stored in__________________ 2. Water is an important need of all_____________________ 3.Water that soaks into the soil and rock layers is called___________ 4. Places wher e water is stored are called___________ 5. Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and storage are all parts of________ Part B: Match the statements on the left with the words on the right ______________ 6. forms clouds ______________ 7. causes runoff to flow downhill ______________ 8. a type of reservoir ______________ 9. can be trapped in spaces in rock 1 2 3 condensation water tower groundwater gravity 4 Part C: Use the words below to identify the processes in the water cycle Evaporation Precipitation Condensation Storage 10 11 12 13 3 Guidelines for textbooks authors A Sample Inquiry: Grade VI (Structural Inquiry) O Take three torches / ray boxes. O Paste green cellophene filter paper on the glass of one of the torch. O Similarly paste red and blue filters on the other two torches. O Overlap light of torch on the light of other on a sheet of white paper in a dark room. O Tabulate your results. Mixing of light Result Red + Blue Green + Blue Green + Red Red + Green + Blue O From your above observations, which light you will get by mixing blue and yellow? O Nadeem is wearing yellow jacket and blue jean and while Neena red shirt and green scarf.What color of clothes will be seen in a room of red light? And in a room with blue light? Sample Inquiries: (Guided Inquiry) O Collect material from library, magazines, newspapers on the subject â€Å"impact of human activities on environment†. Discuss the impacts with your peers and teachers. O Sort out news and articles related to the environmental issues from the newspapers of the last one week and place them on the board. O Draw food chains and food web on the basis of your observations of a pond or garden eco-system. O Categories the organism in the above activity as produces, consumers and decomposers.O Give a puzzle to solve to a class in a noisy environment using a pre-recorded loud noise of unpleasant sounds. The same be repeated in a silent environment, compare the results and draw conclusions O Desig n an activity to measure the thickness of a wire using a meter scale. (Grade VI) 14 Guidelines for textbooks authors O Design an activity to observe convection heating of a liquid. (Grade VII) O Design and study series of parallel circuits and find the most appropriate one. Give reasons for your selection. (Grade VII) Sample Inquiry: (Open Inquiry) O At the end of a chapter / topic the author may ask the students o identify related problems and to design and conduct investigation to find the cause-and-effect of the problem and to suggest solution. Remembering: Potential Activities and Products O Make a story map showing the main events of the story. O Make a time line of your typical day. O Make a concept map of the topic. O Write a list of keywords you know about†¦. O What characters were in the story? O Make a chart showing†¦ O Recite a poem you have learnt. O Write in your own words†¦ O Cut out, or draw pictures to illustrate a particular event in the story.O Repor t to the class†¦ O Illustrate what you think the main idea may have been. O Make a cartoon strip showing the sequence of events in the story. O Write and perform a play based on the story. O Write a brief outline to explain this story to someone else O Explain why the character solved the problem in this particular way O Write a summary report of the event. O Prepare a flow chart to illustrate the sequence of events. O Make a colouring book. O Paraphrase this chapter in the book. O Retell in your own words. O Outline the main points. 15 Guidelines for textbooks authorsApplying: Potential Activities and Products O Construct a model to demonstrate how it looks or works O Practise a play and perform it for the class O Write a diary entry O Make a scrapbook about the area of study. O Prepare invitations for a characters birthday party O Make a topographic map O Take and display a collection of photographs on a particular topic. O Make up a puzzle or a game about the topic. O Write an explanation about this topic for others. O Dress a doll in national costume. O Make a clay model†¦ O Paint a wall painting using the same materials.O Continue the story†¦ Creating: Potential Activities and Products O Invent a machine to do a specific task. O Create a new product. Give it a name and plan a marketing campaign. O Write about your feelings in relation to O Write a TV show play, puppet show, role play, song about.. O Design a new monetary system O Develop a menu for a new restaurant using a variety of healthy foods O Design a record, book or magazine cover for O Sell an idea O Devise a way to O Make up a new language and use it in an example O Write a jingle to advertise a new product.Assessment Exercises O Add ongoing assessment quizzes/questions of lower and higher order thinking throughout the chapter and at the end of chapters. These exercises should encourage students to think, develop skills and use information for a variety of situations. 16 Guideline s for textbooks authors O Mini exercises can be given involving investigations and relating concepts with the society and environment. O End of chapter exercise may consist of variety of questions to evaluate wide range of abilities and skills starting from lower to higher order thinking.O Think tank/investigations/projects may be included for open ended questions to provoke students thinking, creativity and investigation skills. Good Questions are: O Purposeful (asked to achieve a specific purpose) O Clear (students understand what they mean) O Brief (stated in as few words as possible) O Natural (stated simply, in conversational English) O Thought-provoking (they stimulate thought and response) O Limited in scope (only one or two points in chain of reasoning called for) O Adapted to the level of the class (tailored to the kinds of students in class) Questions for Remembering LevelsO What happened after? O How many? O What is? O Who was it that? O Can you name ? O Find the definiti on of†¦ O Describe what happened after†¦ O Who spoke to? O Which is true or false? (Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 12) SAMPLE QUESTIONS Knowledge/Remembering: The recall of specific information Lower level Question: Extended Question: What is an ecosystem? Define an ecosystem and list the varieties that are found in Pakistan. 17 Guidelines for textbooks authors Questions for Understanding Level O Can you explain why†¦? O Can you write in your own words? O How would you explain†¦?O Can you write a brief outline? O What do you think could have happened next? O Who do you think? O What was the main idea? O Can you clarify†¦? O Can you illustrate†¦? (Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 12) SAMPLE QUESTIONS Knowledge/Remembering: The recall of specific information Objective: Lower level Question: Extended Question: An understanding of what was read. List the different parts of the ecosystem and explain what they do? Compare a marin e ecosystem with one from another of our province. Questions for Applying Level O Do you know of another instance where†¦?O Can you group by characteristics such as†¦? O Which factors would you change if†¦? O What questions would you ask of†¦? O From the information given, can you develop a set of instructions about†¦? (Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 13) SAMPLE QUESTIONS Objective: Lower level Question: Extended Question: Using the knowledge in another familiar situation. Using a diagram, show how the Water Cycle operates in an ecosystem? Demonstrate what happens when human interface with the Water Cycle? 18 Guidelines for textbooks authors Question for Analyzing Level O Which events could not have happened? O If. . happened, what might the ending have been? O How is similar to? O What do you see as other possible outcomes? O Why did changes occur? O Can you explain what must have happened when? O What are some or the problems of? O Can you d istinguish between? O What were some of the motives behind..? O What was the turning point? O What was the problem with? (Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 13) SAMPLE QUESTIONS Objective : Lower level Question: Extended Question: Breaking information into explore understanding and relationships or To differentiate between the constituent parts.Contrast the nature water Cycle with that used your community. Examine an ecosystem that has been damaged by human interface. How could it have been avoided? Questions for Evaluating Level O Is there a better solution to? O Judge the value of What do you think about? O Can you defend your position about? O Do you think is a good or bad thing? O How would you have handled? O What changes to would you recommend? O Do you believe? How would you feel if. ..? O How effective are. ..? O What are the consequences..? O What influence will. ave on our lives? 19 Guidelines for textbooks authors O What are the pros and cons of.? O Why is . o f value? O What are the alternatives? O Who will gain ; who will loose? (Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 14) SAMPLE QUESTIONS Evaluation / Evaluating Objective: Lower level Question: Extended Question: The judgment and evaluation of actions, outcomes, etc. or Justification of a decision or course of action. Identify an unspoilt ecosystem and design a way of preserving it. How would preserving our local ecosystem stabilize our environment?Questions for Creating Level O Can you design a to? O Can you see a possible solution to? O If you had access to all resources, how would you deal with? O Why dont you devise your own way to? O What would happen if ? O How many ways can you? O Can you create new and unusual uses for? O Can you develop a proposal which would? (Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 14) SAMPLE QUESTIONS Synthesis / creating Objective: The organization of thoughts, ideas and information form the contents or Generate new ideas, products or ways of viewing things.Lower level Question: Extended Question: Is it reasonable that people pollute our waterways? Defend your answer. Assess the impact of pollution in our local waterways. 20 Guidelines for textbooks authors Specific Levels of Questions Blooms categories of educational objectives to classify questions (Grade IX) Blooms Categories of Questions 6 Creating 5 Evaluating 4 Analysing 3 Applying 2 Understanding 1 Remembering u Sample Question How can we determine the weight of an object without a standard scale? Draw a picture of your favorite building. Do you like modern art? Explain why? Which method do you prefer: decantation or filtration? u What does this chart mean? Why is Karachi called â€Å"The business capital of Pakistan†? u Solve x2 + 14 = 18 Make a paper cup that will hold 500 mL of water . u Write in your words how the water cycle works. Differentiate between atom and molecule. u How is chemistry defined? Who was the first governor General of Pakistan? CHAP TER ENDING O Key points/summary/concepts map at the end of chapter helps the students for quick revision. O Add glossary at the end of the chapter/book.O Add activities/mini projects/case studies O Add review questions, self quizzes, end of chapter exercise. O Add reference boxes e. g. web sites, computer simulations etc. 21 Guidelines for textbooks authors BOOK ENDING O Include appendices for additional information. O Suggest bibliography for additional references. O Make and include index for quick reference. O Add appeal for feedback and suggestions for further improvement. MANUSCRIPTS REVIEW CHECKLIST S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Item Description The manuscript is in line with the National Curriculum.Objective / standards / benchmarks/ SLOs of the National Curriculum are translated in letter and spirit. The contents page is appropriately sequenced and numbered. Vocabulary and terminology appropriate to the level/class are used and glossary of difficult words is added at the end of each lesson or book. Reference to textbooks, material, and other resource material is acknowledged and mentioned in the manuscript. At the end of the textbook, a small paragraph about the author is given. It doesnt have any material repugnant to Islam as well as ideology of Pakistan.No anonymous materials, poems, stories etc. is included in the textbook. Language is simple and understandable and there are no language errors or conception mistakes in the manuscript. Diagrams, illustrations and photographs are appropriate and clear with proper labeling / captions. Assessment mechanism is incorporated / in built. Each chapter/unit covers themes and topics, learning outcomes and suggested activities as per National Curriculum. The material presented is dynamic, challenging, stimulating and user friendly. The manuscript addresses the gender issue appropriately. 22 Cx Ima Bascxfdfd Essay Example Cx Ima Bascxfdfd Essay It should be readable but in a proper discourse and with a proper display. The content of the textbook as we have already mentioned should be encyclopedic i. e. knowledge based facts, concepts, values and attitudes. There must be reading assignments, rewriting assignments, summaries, recalls and text included as teachable part of the textbook. The structure of a textbook is based on problem-solving technique. The coherence of a textbook needs clarity of ideas, i. e. readability with commenting words and phrases.A textbook should be appropriate to the topics by explaining in proper language and discourse, related with the previous knowledge and using graphs, illustrations, pictures, photographs to depict the concepts. Its talk should be friendly like â€Å"Have you ever been / heard†. It is called meta-discourse. Activities, questions, projects, intellectuals and emotional engagements should be placed as a part of teaching in a textbook. A textbook is not only a student â€Å" aid, it is also a teachers tool†, so a student should know that what he has to do with the text and a teacher should be given pedagogical points.Hence, it is recommendable that students comer, and teacher points should be given in a textbook though there may be a separate work book or a teachers guide. A textbook is a product for teaching learning process. It would be rather developed and not written. It should not be a piece of writing and not a piece of literature or mere 1 GUIDELINES FOR TEXTBOOKS AUTHORS Understanding Curriculum Standards – Benchmarks SLOs Standards The competencies by descriptive statements specifying broadly, the knowledge, skills and attitudes that students will acquire, shall know and be able to do in a particular key area during the course of study.These are qualitative in nature and sets out the learning targets. They may not be subject specific. Benchmarks The standards indicate what the students will accomplish at the end of each developmen t level. They are subject specific. SLOs The detailed statements describing what students are supposed to learn and be able to do at each grade level to achieve the specified benchmarks. They are activity specific and generally observable and measurable. 2 A Paradigm Shift From Traditional approaches: 1. Based on contents topics 2. Focus on objectives 3. Learning Medium â€Å"Words† 4.Focus on teaching 5. Teacher centered 6. One way approach 7. Reading, writing, communication and using arithmetic (skills) 8. Assessment of content knowledge simple understanding 9. Promote memorization Guidelines for textbooks authors To Standard based approaches: 1. Based on standards 2. Focus on SLOs 3. Learning Medium â€Å"Images† 4. Focus on learning 5. Student centered 6. Variety of approaches 7. Interpersonal, team work and problem solving skills 8. Assessment of content ,skills and attitudes, deeper understanding, reasoning and application 9. Promote thinking What is new in a T extbookFrom descriptive and reading approach to information mapping, Interactive elements, life skills activities, gender equity, brain teasers for initiating discussions, diagrams, illustrations, worked examples, Interesting information in Boxes, critical thinking problems and FAQs for effective Learning. COMPUTER SCIE ENGLISH 11 NCE 8It is a 10 great virtue to be helpful PUNJAB TEXTBOOK BOARD, LAHORE PUNJAB TEXT BOOK BOAR D, LAHORE 3 Guidelines for textbooks authors Qualities of a Textbook Writing a good textbook requires the skills of a subject specialist, a curriculum expert, a good teacher with classroom experience, and an imaginative author.Structured approach Active learning methodoloyg Development of critical thinking Improved teaching methodology Focus on skills development rather than rote memorization Pre-tested in field Active learning methodoloyg Gender balanced Active design and layout Interactive contents 4 Guidelines for textbooks authors NATIONAL CURRICULA 2006/07 E nvisage Textbooks O Providing knowledge which is useful for a developing society. O Inculcating problems-solving approach to create independent / critical thinking. O Creating skills and attitudes relevant with real life situation.O Reflecting innovative writing/modern production processes. O Containing upto date ; age appropriate text. O Based on conceptual assessment, thinking based exercises instead of fact / memory questions oriented only. STRATAGEM TO DEVELOP A TEXTBOOK Get help from the information super highway If you have access to internet, explore its nooks and carnies, such as e-mail, use Google, the worldwide web (www), and so on. The existence of www had search engine makes it easy to find services of information on any topic.To use a search engine, just type in one or more keywords or phrases, and the search engine looks over the millions of websites around the world to find those that mention these words or phrases; then you can visit those sites. The whole process ta kes only a few seconds. One URL is http://www. google. com and another is www. msn. com to search sites: It is very essential to be careful to give credit to the sources being used. If you copy material from the internet or from other sources and present it as your own, you stealing another persons property or you are misguided by another persons ideas.O Review all contemporary books for content prior to start work. O Assume students having no prior knowledge when presenting new term – define / explain as required. O Provide smooth transition from previous information covered and new information presented. CHAPTER OPENING O Describe SLOs at the beginning of each chapter clearly stating the objectives and skills to be achieved in the chapter. O Give a brief overview/preview/introduction/outlines of the chapter. O The chapter can also be opened by giving a case study/quotation or any other special feature. 5 Guidelines for textbooks authorsCHAPTER CORE O Add historical and curr ent dates of interest. O Include enough information to allow the reader to comprehend a specific concept maintaining breath and depth for addressing the expected learning outcomes of the National Curriculum. O Build vertical linkage between various concepts from lower to higher level and at the same time horizontal linkage of concepts of one discipline with the others. O Avoid overlapping of concepts vertically as well as horizontally. If need arises, give recall paragraphs. O Relate the concepts to students own experience and observation.O Textual matter should be harmonized reflecting unity and coherence, discussing diverse view points wherever appropriate. O Provide guidance, as necessary, on safety, health and environment requirement pertaining to the learning event. O Text and activities to demonstrate care and respect for the environment. COMMUNICATION O Fewer words are better. Be concise, use simple language which consists of short sentences. Prefer graded vocabulary. O Prese nt content using consistent nomenclature/ internationally accepted terminology/units. O Highlight the headings, sub-heading, key words, terms and definitions.For distinction use level heading â€Å"A† 4. 1, 4. 2level â€Å"B† 4. 1. 1, 4. 2. 1level â€Å"C† (a), (b), (c) (i), (ii), (iii)-and level â€Å"D† bold but unnumbered. ILLUSTRATIONS O Use the appropriate elements to promote comprehension – charts, tables, graphs, illustration, line drawings – cartoon types illustrations for children. Real life coloured photographs and illustrations make the substance vivid, attractive and easy to digest. O Draw figures to size and should be numbered as Fig. 4. 1, 4. 2, 4. 3 followed by captions, label if needed (font size 9).All figures to be cited in the text. 6 Guidelines for textbooks authors INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS O Pre-reading O Activities while reading O Headers and footers O Linkage of text and figures O Elaboration of concepts with examples O In teraction of text with society O Puzzles O Brain teasers O Quick quiz O â€Å"Do you know† in boxes O STS connections O Field trips O Clippings O Flash cards O Models O Work sheets O Flow charts O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O Labeling a diagram Peer discussion Problems solving Clipart/Cartoons / caricatures Tidbits – speech bubbles Review question–re-enforcement activities.Quotations Demonstrations Colourful pictures Group tasks Points to remember Role play Library research Mini projects Surveys Case studies Exhibition INFORMATION BOXES Make effort to make user friendly text and lively by quoting connections with society at appropriate places in boxes such as:v v v v v v Tidbits: to provide snippets of interesting and useful knowledge. Fascinating facts: creating a sense of wonder giving unbelievable information but true facts of the nature. Quick Quiz: question to recall, think and apply what they have learnt as well as to re-enforce by learning of key conce pts and principles.Point to ponder / Brain teaser: to encourage the art of thinking by mentioning live situations involving science applications. Did you know: Interesting relevant or additional information. Remember/Caution/Attention: The text needed to be emphasised. 7 Guidelines for textbooks authors Specimens of various boxed informations Respect the Earth, it is the only one we have. Tidbit Most abundant organizms in the world are bacteria One big tree fulfils oxygen needs of 36 children per day. The dead sea is highly saturated with salts. The crystals start appearing in it even with a slight decrease in the temperature.The workers in a noisy factory may suffer from â€Å"tinnitus† caused by long exposure to loud sounds. They must wear ear plugs to avoid further hearing loss while on job. Science Tidbits Grade IV The best example of solution of carbon dioxide in water is soda water Grade IX The weight of an average apple is nearly one newton. Grade IX A light year is th e distance covered by light in vacuum in one year. It equals 15 9. 46 X 10 m Grade IX The bullet train in Japan and France run over electromagnetic track instead of ordinary iron rails. Grade IX The friction in the human joints is much reduced due to the presence of a fluid – a natural lubrication.Grade IX The dead sea is highly saturated with salts. The crystals start appearing in it even with a slight decrease in the atmospheric temperature. 8 Guidelines for textbooks authors Fascinating Facts Sun showers as much energy on the earth in one hour as much as all other sources produce in one year. 1. 5 million children die every year from contaminated drinking water. One million atoms, if arranged one above the other, will have the thickness of a human hair. Matter in plasma state makes up much of the universe. The matter of Sun is also in Plasma state. Point to ponder Why touch-me-not is called so?Why do we feel cool when we sit under the fan wearing wet clothes? Why deserts n ights are cooler while the days are very hot? What would happen if photosynthesis has stopped? What would happen if there were no bacteria? Remember! Caution! Attention! The future of our children depends upon development without destruction of natural environment. Listening to loud music isharmcul,sounds above 85dB ar hazardous to hearing. Pop music isoft en 110dB or louder, so the potential of hearing damage is very real Noise can kill silently A 30dB sound is ten time more intense than 20dB sound but twice as loud.The planet Jupiter is not terrestrial body as our Earth but a gas-giant. The efficiency and productivity of the worker is badly affected by noisy environment. If a factory owner adopts noise control measure, the cost is paid back in the form of enhanced efficiency and productivity in addition to better health of the workers 9 Guidelines for textbooks authors Brain Teasers / Quick Quiz Why touch-me-not is called so? Why do we feel cool when we sit under the fan wearing w et clothes? Can we talk while standing on the moon as on earth? What would happen if photosynthesis has stopped? Which biomes act as the nature’s lungs?What would happen if Earth suddenly stops revolving around the Sun? Other Eye-catchers Remember Inexpensive foam earplugs can reduce noise level by 20dB to 25 dB. Caution: No plastic wrap Food should not be heated in the micro wave oven using plastic containers. Dioxins from the plastic are released which are highly poisonous for our body cells. Use Pyrex glass or ceramic containers only. Remember ! Radioisotopes are unstable isotope of an element emitting nuclear radiation. Did you know? These symbols are used to indicate the presence of radioactive material. 10 Guidelines for textbooks authors VARIOUS ACTIVITIESO Build process skills such as observation, measurement, data collection, analysis etc. through various types of activities or mini projects. Activities Emphasize Learning Through Visual Verbal Logical Kinaesthetic Au ditory Interpersonal Intrapersonal Pictures, colours and graphs Words/discussions/questionings Pattern, reasons, numbers Physical activity touch Through sound Through interaction with others Through independent work reflection/imagination O Student centred and activity-oriented text enhances quest of learning, develops ability to think scientifically and critically; and develops creativity.The first step towards scientific literacy is to engage the students in asking and answering meaningful questions starting with why, how and should. †¢ †¢ †¢ â€Å"Why† questions are related to scientific inquiry â€Å"How† questions address problem solving process â€Å"Should† questions indicates decision making Hands-on activities reinforce the understanding of concepts develop process skills. They are: Structural Inquiry: Guided Inquiry: Open Inquiry: Instruction are given to perform the activity without telling the expected outcome Students develop a pro cedure to investigate a problem selected by the teacher.Students identify a problem to investigate and design their own investigation. Types of Activities: 11 Guidelines for textbooks authors How to write an Inquiry? O Start with an open ended question or a demonstration. Allow responses and subsequent questions from students. O Involve students to collaborate on designing experiment or process. O Ask students to conduct experiment and or gather data. O Ask to locate, select, organize and present information from a variety of sources. O Allow students to analyze and interpret data. O Identify a problem, plan and carry out investigation for its solution.O Encourage students to identify pattern, report trends and draw inferences. O Allow discussion and information communication etc. O Finally ask the students to draw conclusion. A Sample Inquiry: Grade IX (Structural Inquiry) Material Procedure 1. Come to class with an electric kettle filled with water. Let students wonder! 2. Plug in the cord and switch on the kettle to do its job. Soon steam will begin to escape from the spout. 3. Get a cold, white ceramic plate and hold it up at a safe distance from the spout. Tilt it slightly. 4. Water droplets collect on the plate and soon begin to fall down. The water cycle 5.Now ask students what was happening? Facilitate them in making analogies: Kettle, Bodies of water, Electric socket, Sun, White ceramic plate, Clouds 6. Lead the students into the terminology: O O O O evaporation water vapor condensation precipitation Electric Kettle and white Ceramic Plate 7. Help them see the CYCLE 8. Distribute Worksheet 12 Guidelines for textbooks authors WORKSHEET Part A: Complete the sentences using the words below: Groundwater living things reservoirs Lakes and oceans water cycle 1. In the water cycle, water is stored in__________________ 2. Water is an important need of all_____________________ 3.Water that soaks into the soil and rock layers is called___________ 4. Places wher e water is stored are called___________ 5. Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and storage are all parts of________ Part B: Match the statements on the left with the words on the right ______________ 6. forms clouds ______________ 7. causes runoff to flow downhill ______________ 8. a type of reservoir ______________ 9. can be trapped in spaces in rock 1 2 3 condensation water tower groundwater gravity 4 Part C: Use the words below to identify the processes in the water cycle Evaporation Precipitation Condensation Storage 10 11 12 13 3 Guidelines for textbooks authors A Sample Inquiry: Grade VI (Structural Inquiry) O Take three torches / ray boxes. O Paste green cellophene filter paper on the glass of one of the torch. O Similarly paste red and blue filters on the other two torches. O Overlap light of torch on the light of other on a sheet of white paper in a dark room. O Tabulate your results. Mixing of light Result Red + Blue Green + Blue Green + Red Red + Green + Blue O From your above observations, which light you will get by mixing blue and yellow? O Nadeem is wearing yellow jacket and blue jean and while Neena red shirt and green scarf.What color of clothes will be seen in a room of red light? And in a room with blue light? Sample Inquiries: (Guided Inquiry) O Collect material from library, magazines, newspapers on the subject â€Å"impact of human activities on environment†. Discuss the impacts with your peers and teachers. O Sort out news and articles related to the environmental issues from the newspapers of the last one week and place them on the board. O Draw food chains and food web on the basis of your observations of a pond or garden eco-system. O Categories the organism in the above activity as produces, consumers and decomposers.O Give a puzzle to solve to a class in a noisy environment using a pre-recorded loud noise of unpleasant sounds. The same be repeated in a silent environment, compare the results and draw conclusions O Desig n an activity to measure the thickness of a wire using a meter scale. (Grade VI) 14 Guidelines for textbooks authors O Design an activity to observe convection heating of a liquid. (Grade VII) O Design and study series of parallel circuits and find the most appropriate one. Give reasons for your selection. (Grade VII) Sample Inquiry: (Open Inquiry) O At the end of a chapter / topic the author may ask the students o identify related problems and to design and conduct investigation to find the cause-and-effect of the problem and to suggest solution. Remembering: Potential Activities and Products O Make a story map showing the main events of the story. O Make a time line of your typical day. O Make a concept map of the topic. O Write a list of keywords you know about†¦. O What characters were in the story? O Make a chart showing†¦ O Recite a poem you have learnt. O Write in your own words†¦ O Cut out, or draw pictures to illustrate a particular event in the story.O Repor t to the class†¦ O Illustrate what you think the main idea may have been. O Make a cartoon strip showing the sequence of events in the story. O Write and perform a play based on the story. O Write a brief outline to explain this story to someone else O Explain why the character solved the problem in this particular way O Write a summary report of the event. O Prepare a flow chart to illustrate the sequence of events. O Make a colouring book. O Paraphrase this chapter in the book. O Retell in your own words. O Outline the main points. 15 Guidelines for textbooks authorsApplying: Potential Activities and Products O Construct a model to demonstrate how it looks or works O Practise a play and perform it for the class O Write a diary entry O Make a scrapbook about the area of study. O Prepare invitations for a characters birthday party O Make a topographic map O Take and display a collection of photographs on a particular topic. O Make up a puzzle or a game about the topic. O Write an explanation about this topic for others. O Dress a doll in national costume. O Make a clay model†¦ O Paint a wall painting using the same materials.O Continue the story†¦ Creating: Potential Activities and Products O Invent a machine to do a specific task. O Create a new product. Give it a name and plan a marketing campaign. O Write about your feelings in relation to O Write a TV show play, puppet show, role play, song about.. O Design a new monetary system O Develop a menu for a new restaurant using a variety of healthy foods O Design a record, book or magazine cover for O Sell an idea O Devise a way to O Make up a new language and use it in an example O Write a jingle to advertise a new product.Assessment Exercises O Add ongoing assessment quizzes/questions of lower and higher order thinking throughout the chapter and at the end of chapters. These exercises should encourage students to think, develop skills and use information for a variety of situations. 16 Guideline s for textbooks authors O Mini exercises can be given involving investigations and relating concepts with the society and environment. O End of chapter exercise may consist of variety of questions to evaluate wide range of abilities and skills starting from lower to higher order thinking.O Think tank/investigations/projects may be included for open ended questions to provoke students thinking, creativity and investigation skills. Good Questions are: O Purposeful (asked to achieve a specific purpose) O Clear (students understand what they mean) O Brief (stated in as few words as possible) O Natural (stated simply, in conversational English) O Thought-provoking (they stimulate thought and response) O Limited in scope (only one or two points in chain of reasoning called for) O Adapted to the level of the class (tailored to the kinds of students in class) Questions for Remembering LevelsO What happened after? O How many? O What is? O Who was it that? O Can you name ? O Find the definiti on of†¦ O Describe what happened after†¦ O Who spoke to? O Which is true or false? (Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 12) SAMPLE QUESTIONS Knowledge/Remembering: The recall of specific information Lower level Question: Extended Question: What is an ecosystem? Define an ecosystem and list the varieties that are found in Pakistan. 17 Guidelines for textbooks authors Questions for Understanding Level O Can you explain why†¦? O Can you write in your own words? O How would you explain†¦?O Can you write a brief outline? O What do you think could have happened next? O Who do you think? O What was the main idea? O Can you clarify†¦? O Can you illustrate†¦? (Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 12) SAMPLE QUESTIONS Knowledge/Remembering: The recall of specific information Objective: Lower level Question: Extended Question: An understanding of what was read. List the different parts of the ecosystem and explain what they do? Compare a marin e ecosystem with one from another of our province. Questions for Applying Level O Do you know of another instance where†¦?O Can you group by characteristics such as†¦? O Which factors would you change if†¦? O What questions would you ask of†¦? O From the information given, can you develop a set of instructions about†¦? (Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 13) SAMPLE QUESTIONS Objective: Lower level Question: Extended Question: Using the knowledge in another familiar situation. Using a diagram, show how the Water Cycle operates in an ecosystem? Demonstrate what happens when human interface with the Water Cycle? 18 Guidelines for textbooks authors Question for Analyzing Level O Which events could not have happened? O If. . happened, what might the ending have been? O How is similar to? O What do you see as other possible outcomes? O Why did changes occur? O Can you explain what must have happened when? O What are some or the problems of? O Can you d istinguish between? O What were some of the motives behind..? O What was the turning point? O What was the problem with? (Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 13) SAMPLE QUESTIONS Objective : Lower level Question: Extended Question: Breaking information into explore understanding and relationships or To differentiate between the constituent parts.Contrast the nature water Cycle with that used your community. Examine an ecosystem that has been damaged by human interface. How could it have been avoided? Questions for Evaluating Level O Is there a better solution to? O Judge the value of What do you think about? O Can you defend your position about? O Do you think is a good or bad thing? O How would you have handled? O What changes to would you recommend? O Do you believe? How would you feel if. ..? O How effective are. ..? O What are the consequences..? O What influence will. ave on our lives? 19 Guidelines for textbooks authors O What are the pros and cons of.? O Why is . o f value? O What are the alternatives? O Who will gain ; who will loose? (Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 14) SAMPLE QUESTIONS Evaluation / Evaluating Objective: Lower level Question: Extended Question: The judgment and evaluation of actions, outcomes, etc. or Justification of a decision or course of action. Identify an unspoilt ecosystem and design a way of preserving it. How would preserving our local ecosystem stabilize our environment?Questions for Creating Level O Can you design a to? O Can you see a possible solution to? O If you had access to all resources, how would you deal with? O Why dont you devise your own way to? O What would happen if ? O How many ways can you? O Can you create new and unusual uses for? O Can you develop a proposal which would? (Pohl, Learning to Think, Thinking to Learn, p. 14) SAMPLE QUESTIONS Synthesis / creating Objective: The organization of thoughts, ideas and information form the contents or Generate new ideas, products or ways of viewing things.Lower level Question: Extended Question: Is it reasonable that people pollute our waterways? Defend your answer. Assess the impact of pollution in our local waterways. 20 Guidelines for textbooks authors Specific Levels of Questions Blooms categories of educational objectives to classify questions (Grade IX) Blooms Categories of Questions 6 Creating 5 Evaluating 4 Analysing 3 Applying 2 Understanding 1 Remembering u Sample Question How can we determine the weight of an object without a standard scale? Draw a picture of your favorite building. Do you like modern art? Explain why? Which method do you prefer: decantation or filtration? u What does this chart mean? Why is Karachi called â€Å"The business capital of Pakistan†? u Solve x2 + 14 = 18 Make a paper cup that will hold 500 mL of water . u Write in your words how the water cycle works. Differentiate between atom and molecule. u How is chemistry defined? Who was the first governor General of Pakistan? CHAP TER ENDING O Key points/summary/concepts map at the end of chapter helps the students for quick revision. O Add glossary at the end of the chapter/book.O Add activities/mini projects/case studies O Add review questions, self quizzes, end of chapter exercise. O Add reference boxes e. g. web sites, computer simulations etc. 21 Guidelines for textbooks authors BOOK ENDING O Include appendices for additional information. O Suggest bibliography for additional references. O Make and include index for quick reference. O Add appeal for feedback and suggestions for further improvement. MANUSCRIPTS REVIEW CHECKLIST S. No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. Item Description The manuscript is in line with the National Curriculum.Objective / standards / benchmarks/ SLOs of the National Curriculum are translated in letter and spirit. The contents page is appropriately sequenced and numbered. Vocabulary and terminology appropriate to the level/class are used and glossary of difficult words is added at the end of each lesson or book. Reference to textbooks, material, and other resource material is acknowledged and mentioned in the manuscript. At the end of the textbook, a small paragraph about the author is given. It doesnt have any material repugnant to Islam as well as ideology of Pakistan.No anonymous materials, poems, stories etc. is included in the textbook. Language is simple and understandable and there are no language errors or conception mistakes in the manuscript. Diagrams, illustrations and photographs are appropriate and clear with proper labeling / captions. Assessment mechanism is incorporated / in built. Each chapter/unit covers themes and topics, learning outcomes and suggested activities as per National Curriculum. The material presented is dynamic, challenging, stimulating and user friendly. The manuscript addresses the gender issue appropriately. 22

Trade in Japan Essay

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Current Issues Facing Revenue Management

Current Issues Facing Revenue Management This dissertation provides an analysis on how revenue management developed through out the years in different industries with more focus on hotels. It discusses the different revenue management strategies including pricing, capacity control, overbooking and forecasting. Related issues such as economic concerns, customer perception, competition, and common techniques and approaches used for solving revenue management problems are also discussed. Finally, I give my suggestion on some important areas that warrant further research. Introduction Tradditionally the main purpose of revenue management has been to maximise revenue. It is the business practice with aim to see the right inventory to the right customer at the right price at the right time in order to maximise total revenue. (B.C Smith, J.F Leimkuhler and R.M.Darrow Vol 22). The concept of right in this definition means achieving the maximum revenue for the sellers, and gaining maximum value for the buyers(S.E Kimes Vol 40). The basic of revenue management is to offer discounted rates to stimulate demand for inventory that would otherwise go unsold, while limiting the availability of the discounts to customers who are willing to pay a higher price. Hotel companies reported revenue increases of 2 to 5% as a result of using revenue management (Ibid) The Brief History of Revenue Management According to Carroll and Grimes 1995; Hanks, Noland, and Cross 1992; Smith, Leimkuhler, and Darrow1992) Revenue management, also known as yield management, has been widely adopted in the airline, hotel, and rental car industries, but has only recently gained attention in other industries (Kimes 2000; Kimes et al. 1998). Companies using revenue management have reported revenue increases of 2% to 5% (Hanks, Noland, and Cross 1992; Smith, Leimkuhler, and Darrow 1992). In 1980s The airline industry launched revenue management practices. During that time yield management techniques became a common practice among airlines. On January 17, 1985 American Airlines launched its Ultimate Super Saver fares in an effort to compete with the low cost carrier People Express. ( www.ehotelier.com ) The need to fill at least minimum number of seats without selling every seat at discounted was the main reason that triggered the born by revenue management. ( www.ehotelier.com) As new Airline companies started to enter the market in the 1980s, Airline companies were eager to sell enough seats to cover fixed operating expenses. Then once fixed expenses were covered, and there were now fewer remaining seats to sell, the remaining seats could be sold at high prices in order to maximise on revenue and profits. According to (Boyd,1998), the application of correct revenue techniques by US Airlines and Delta Airlines resulted of an increase in revenue of US$500 and $300 million respectively, on the other hand Cross (1997) reports that revenue management helps Marriott Hotel to gainUS$100 million additional annual revenue Elliott (2003) presents how revenue management can contribute substantially to cost savings and revenue maximisation while helping maintain quality. Research on revenue management has extended to several industries, with three major streams of investigation: descriptive (whether revenue management will work for a particular industry), pricing control, and inventory control. Industries that can use revenue management can be classified further by their relative ability to exercise pricing- and demand-control levers. An important aspect of implementing revenue management is to ascertain the extent to which customers will view pricing controls as being fair. While customers may initially view nearly any manipulation as potentially unfair, research on perceived fairness has found that customers generally will accept price manipulations as long as they believe they are gaining a benefit at the same time the business is receiving a benefit from pricing changes. Duration control involves some combination of manipulating customer arrivals and managing actual duration of use, depending on the industry in question. Revenue management uses the basic principles of supply and demand economics, in a tactical way, to generate incremental revenues. There are three essential conditions for revenue management to be applicable: There is a fixed amount of resources available for sale. The resources to sell are very perishable. Customers are willing to pay a different price for using the same resources. The hotel industry fits these criteria extremely well. Obviously, hotels have a fixed inventory of rooms to sell; these rooms are also extremely perishable. Hotel rooms perish every day, any room that is unsold tonight is gone forever. There is also no question that different segments of business are willing to pay different rates under various circumstances. Revenue management is of especially high relevance in cases where fixed costs are high as compared to variable costs. The less variable costs there are, the more added revenue will contribute to overall profit. This makes revenue management perfect for the hotel industry. Effective market segmentation is the key to successful revenue management for hotels. Market segmentation begins with seasonal demand. For years, hoteliers recognized that almost all hotels experience periods of high and lower demand. This is even more obvious in hotels, located in resort and attraction areas. Hotels quickly recognized that consumers would also pay more for rooms with a superior view, such as ocean or mountain views and other unique features of their location; larger or unusual rooms; and rooms with unique features. Hotel revenue management hit its stride when hoteliers examined airline RM and realized that the factors of supply and demand, beyond natural seasonal demand, present opportunities to generate higher revenue. As room demand increases and room supply decreases, hotel rate opportunities also increase. The airlines have taught us that supply demand opportunities appear all year long because of conventions, group bookings, room production through web site marketing, special events and local attractions; all create revenue management opportunities.( Ehotelier ) This dissertation address the way revenue management is applied in hotels in UK and discusses the latest issues that faced revenue managers during the economic down turn last year This dissertation Study has been undertaken through detailed analysis on how revenue management is applied in hotels and then discuss the issues facing Revenue managers today through the analysis of responses to a survey that was sent to revenue managers working at hotels in UK. The research also include several working papers, conference proceedings and case studies that I believe are valuable in this study. Overall, 20 articles have been examined. Several review papers have provided an overview of research on revenue management. A list of these papers is in Table 1. In This dissertation will focus on the progress of revenue management in recent years, especially after 1999. Literature review How Revenue Management is Applied Gallego and Phillips (2004) introduce the concept of flexible products for revenue management. They define a flexible product as a menu of two or more alternative, typically substitute, products offered by a constrained supplier using a sales or booking process. In this context, products include not only physical products but also service offerings. Researchers have applied revenue management models in a wide variety of industries where suppliers offer flexible products. Airlines, hotels and rental car industries represent three major traditional applications of revenue management. These industries share some similar characteristics. All of their products are perishable, the demand for their products vary significantly over time, and they have large fixed costs while variable costs are small in the short run. Because of revenue managements success in these industries, researchers and practitioners have begun trying to adopt it in a wide range of miscellaneous industries such as resta urants, casinos, cargo, Internet services and apartment renting. These industries share some similar characteristics with the traditional industries. Some of these practices have acquired great success. In fact, all service providers can take advantage of revenue management theory. Just as ( Berman 2005) says, revenue management is an effective mechanism to allocate a service providers relatively fixed capacity and to provide discounts on a much broader scale. The table below provides examples of revenue management application in different industries. We are not going to discuss the application of revenue management in every industry. In the following section, we provide a brief overview and examples of revenue management research in three non-traditional industries Revenue management practices in different industries (Berman (2005) Industries Example of practices Hospitality Industries Hotels Provide special rate packages for periods of low occupancy; use overbooking policy to compensate for cancellation, no-shows. Restaurants Move customers to off-peak periods by offering discount coupons, or charging reservation fees and higher meal prices on Friday and Saturday nights. Attractions Set different admission charge levels, provide joint-entry tickets, group discounts, coupons, membership rates. Cruise lines and ferry lines Provide luxury class, economy class; change prices frequently according to demand; sell more tickets than seats to avoid cancellation and no show. Casinos Customize offers such as complimentary room, tickets, gifts, discounts, etc., based on customers profitability. Saunas Determine price based upon factors such as room type, duration, and service type. Resort Provide different resort packages to attract different customers. Golf Use different prices to reflect the value of different times of the golf course. Sports events and distribution Determine ticket price for an event based on based on factors such as customer tastes and area of seating; determine the price of season tickets; determine the number of tickets sold for each seat segment. Conference Provide different packages and rates to satisfy different customers requirements. Transportation related industries Airlines Provide business class, economy class; adjust prices frequently according to demand; provide more tickets than seats to avoid cancellation and no-show. Rental cars Adjust prices frequently according to demand; serve highvalued fleet utilisation with priority; accept or reject booking requests based on length-of-rent controls. Railways Divide customers into standard class and first class; provide different prices based on the day of travel and the time of the day. Subscription services IT Services and Internet Services Allocate resources such as human resource, computing capacity, storage and network capacity among segments of customers and determine appropriate price for each segment, high class customers will be served with priority. Cellular network services Control call admission based on customer priority, higher class customers will be served with priority. Major revenue management problems Revenue management problems can be categorized into several different, but related, areas: pricing, auctions, capacity control (or inventory control), overbooking, and forecasting. In the following subsections, we will review each of these areas, but before we start, there are two points that need to be mentioned. First, although we categorize revenue management into several areas, this does not mean that these areas are completely isolated. In fact, these areas are highly correlated and need to be considered jointly when solving practical problems and some researchers are indeed trying to solve these problems jointly. For instance, Feng and Xiao (2006) present a comprehensive model to integrate pricing and capacity allocation. Second, auction is a specific type of pricing strategy. Here we separate auctions from pricing, because we want to emphasise the importance of auctions in the future application of revenue management. In addition, in this section, we also discuss other related issues regarding revenue management, including economic theory, the impact of competition and consolidation, customer perception and behaviour, the development and implementation of revenue management, performance evaluation of revenue management and techniques used for solving revenue management problems Managing Seasonal versus Daily Demand Revenue management principles apply to all levels of demand. Resort hotels with seasonal rates have been using a form of revenue management for years by posting higher or lower rates based upon seasonal demand; this is the essence of revenue or yield management. If these hotels thought they could get in-season rates all year long, they certainly would. They are adjusting for supply and demand. ( ehotelier) Yield management provides the ability to build a base of business by posting a wide range of rates, low to high, to appeal to the broadest range of consumers. For hotels which are capable of handling group business, this is the theory behind quoting lower rates for groups; getting the business on-the-books. Once this base business is booked, either by groups or transient individuals, lower rates can then be closed for sale. This is daily demand. Its important to understand that yield management is the process of closing-out lower rates when there are fewer rooms to sell; leaving only higher rates as occupancy increases. Rates are not increased; lower rates are closed for sale. There is an important distinction between the two. As demand increases, there are more methods of yielding higher revenue; the use of restrictions. Many hotels use restrictions very effectively. E.g. hotels with high weekend demand often restrict weekend reservations to a minimum of two nights by placing a minimum of two nights stay on Saturday, the more popular night. This limits stays to Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday, the two weaker nights. The same can be applied to holiday periods. The key to successful revenue or yield management is to review advance reservations and make rate close-out decisions as often as might be necessary; generally, three times per week. Hotels practicing revenue management gain an insight into the ebb and flow of business, knowledge of reservations booking pace, and a true understanding of factors which impact occupancy and average rate. Capacity control Koide and Ishii (2005) consider the hotel room allocation policies with early discount, cancellations, and overbooking, but without no-shows. The presented model can provide the optimal solution under certain conditions. They also derive an optimal allocation for a simplified problem, which considers early discount but ignores cancellations and overbooking. McGill and van Ryzin (1999) consider the allocation of capacity for rental businesses with two classes of customers. Their research suggests that the capacity reductions enabled by allocation schemes can help to lift profit margins significantly. Zhang and Cooper (2005) address the simultaneous seat inventory control of a set of parallel flights between a common origin and destination with dynamic customer choice among the flights. They solve this stochastic optimization problem through simulation based techniques. Most of the current capacity control practices are based on forecasting. However, forecasting is difficult, costly and the results are sometimes unsatisfactory. Therefore, researchers are trying to find alternative approaches. van Ryzin and McGill (2000) present a simple adaptive approach to optimize seat protection levels in airline revenue management. Instead of using the traditional method that combines a censored forecasting method with a seat allocation heuristic (EMSR-b), this approach uses historical observations of the relative frequencies of certain seat-filling events to guide direct adjustments of the seat protection levels. Their preliminary numerical studies suggest that this method can be used to augment traditional forecasting and optimisation approaches. Overbooking control A number of researchers have developed dynamic optimization approaches to the airline overbooking problem and the related problem in the hotel/motel industry. The usual objective in these formulations is to determine a booking limit for each time period before flight departure that maximizes expected revenue, where allowance is made for the dynamics of cancellations and reservations in subsequent time periods and for penalties for oversold seats. KOSTEN (1960) develops a continuous time approach to this problem, but this approach requires solution of a set of simultaneous differential equations that make implementation impractical. Rothstein (1968), in his Ph.D. thesis, describes the first dynamic programming (DP) model for overbooking and reviews the results of test runs of the model at American Airlines. ALSTRUP et al. (1986) describe a DP treatment of overbooking for a two-class, nonstop flight and describe computational experience with the approach at Scandinavian Airlines. A DP analysis similar to Rothsteins but developed for the hotel/motel industry and extended to two fare classes is described in LADANY (1976, 1977) and LADANY and ARBEL (1991). A control-limit type structural solution to the (one class) hotel overbooking problem is described in LIBERMAN and YECHIALI (1977, 1978 Since McGill and van Ryzin (1999) had already presented a list of publications in overbooking, we will only discuss the new publications. Zhang and Cooper (2005) focus on the overbooking problem for hotels with multiple tour-operators and conclude that an overbooking policy that treats the capacity of the hotel as a whole gives better cost savings than an overbooking policy that allocates the capacity to each tour-operator separately. Zhang and Cooper (2005) proposes two models (stationary-fares model and nonstationary-fares model) to deal with a multi-period airline-overbooking problem for a single-leg flight with a single service class and use the model to calculate the optimal booking limits. Coughlan (1999) presents an airline revenue maximisation-overbooking model at a fare class level for one service compartment-cabin where class level demand is used to determine the number of bookings for each class. He concludes that this model shows significant improvement over previous methods by testing the model with data of Irelands national airline, Aer Lingus. Biyalogorsky et al. (1999) propose that a strategy using overbooking with opportunistic cancellations can increase expected profits and improve allocation efficiency, then derive a rule of how to allocate capacity to consumers optimally. Under their strategy, the seller can oversell capacity when high-paying consumers show up, even if capacity has already been fully booked, then the seller will cancel the sale to some low-paying customers while providing them with appropriate compensation. Toh and Dekay (2002) create an overbooking model for hotels to find the optimal level of overbooking considering customer service level, unexpected stayovers, and cost of walking displaced guest. Forecasting Forecasting is a critical part of revenue management. The quality of revenue management decisions, such as pricing, capacity control, or overbooking, depends on an accurate forecast. PÃ ¶lt (1998) estimates that a 20% reduction of forecast error can translate into a 1% incremental increase in revenue generated from the revenue management system. Revenue management forecasting includes demand forecasting, capacity forecasting, and price forecasting, each of which has its specific requirements. All forecasting tasks need to address issues such as what to forecast, the type of forecasting method, the aggregation level, the data to use and the accuracy of forecast. Forecasting can have different aggregation levels, from full aggregated forecasting to semi-aggregated forecasting and to fully disaggregated forecasting. The data used in forecasting can be based on historical arrivals or bookings. In addition, forecasting must be adjusted according to special An overview of research on revenue management 111 events, for example, holidays. Zaki (2000) gives a summary of forecasting for airline revenue management. Weatherland et al. (2001) discuss different ways to forecast demand for hotel revenue management systems and assess the effectiveness of aggregated approach and desegregated forecast. Furthermore, Weatherford and Kimes (2003) use data from Choice Hotels and Marriott Hotels to conduct a comparative test on a variety of forecasting methods for hotel revenue management systems to find the most accurate method. Their research suggests that exponential smoothing, pickup method and moving average models provide the most robust forecasts. Despite the mounting forecasting methods, human judgment is still indispensable in forecasting demand. Schwartz and Cohen (2004) make a study on 57 experienced revenue managers to evaluate the bias of this kind of subjective judgment. They find that the nature of the user interface can influence the way the revenue managers adjust the computers forecasts, although the managers are given the same predictions. The managers with a deliberate computer and no chart made the smallest volume of adjustments to the computers forecast, while the managers with a slow computer and an interactive chart made the highest volume of adjustments. How to develop revenue management How to develop and implement revenue management systems is another key issue. Kimes (1999) and Kimes et al. (1999) present a 5-step approach for implementing restaurant revenue management and provide insights from the implementation. Secomandi et al. (2002) present a case of how PROS Revenue Management Inc. worked with three non-airline companies to determine the applicability of revenue management, and to design, develop, and implement Revenue Management systems. Skugge (2002) discusses issues that need to be considered when implementing a revenue management system. He presents risks associated with development and implementation and ways to reduce these risks, and then proposes a two-step process to maximise the likelihood of a successful project completed on time and within budget. Okumuss (2004) research reveals the complexity and difficulty of developing and implementing a centralised revenue management project. He argues that this is because revenue management implementation is often viewed as a tactical activity, but this is not correct. He suggests that researchers and practitioners should view the implementation from the perspectives of strategic management, and they should change management fields. Revenue managers play a crucial role in implementing revenue management. Skugge (2004) finds that one of the reasons why some companies enjoy much greater success with revenue management is they have more effective revenue managers and suggests several methods to improve revenue management education and training programs. Zeni (2003) presents a study performed at US Airways to measure the value of revenue managers contributions to a revenue management system and concludes that analysts can add up to 3 percent in incremental revenue. Parker (2003) presents that airlines need to establish and provide support for a community of practice, which is a group of revenue management related people who interact on an ongoing basis. This group takes responsibilities of establishing protocols and standard procedures with respect to revenue management. The implementation of revenue management requires management to make a series of business decisions. Yeoman and Ingold (2000) discuss the decision-making processes using examples from airlines and hotels. All business decisions have risks, as do revenue management decisions. Therefore, every company must evaluate the potential risks of revenue management. Lancaster (2003) focuses on the risk incurred in the revenue management policies and analyses how risk management measurements and methods can be applied to the revenue management practices. In addition, companies want to make sure that their investment on revenue management can achieve the expected return. Delain and OMeara (2004) illustrate how a company can build a business case to estimate the incremental revenues and costs associated with developing or enhancing a revenue management programme IT service and internet service Revenue management also has application opportunities in subscription services, such as on-demand information technology service and Internet service. Internet service is, in fact, a special case of on-demand information technology service. Nair and Bapna (2001) find that Internet Service Providers (ISP) have perishable capacity for users to log on, a fixed number of units, and the possibility of segmenting price-sensitive customers. These three characteristics are common with industries where revenue management is traditionally applied. They also identify that revenue management in Internet service is different than traditional applications. The Internet service is continuous in state and time, the request and the service happen simultaneously, and overbooking is impossible for ISP. Furthermore, they formulate the revenue management problem for ISP as a continuous time Markov Decision Process to maximize the discounted value while improving service levels for higher class customers. Wynter et al. (2004) introduce a revenue management model for a specific information technology service on-demand computing service. Dube et al. (2005) make a further analysis on the model of Wynter et al. (2004) both analytically and numerically, and conclude that the application of revenue management can significantly increase revenue of on-demand computing service providers Economic concerns To better apply revenue management in the industry, practitioners must have a thorough understanding of underlying economic theory, such as supply and demand, opportunity cost, competition, consolidation, etc. Dana (1999) presents how revenue management techniques, such as price dispersion, can shift demand even when the peak time is unknown. Firms must compete with each other to get customers, so revenue management decisions of one firm unavoidably affect the demand for other firms in the same industry. The sudden reversal in the lodging industrys fortunes from 2008 to 2009 made the focus on customer rate resistance, contract renegotiations, competition, and price wars as top priorities for revenue managers. This contrasts with a 2008 study by Cornell university , where human resources and technology issues were ahead of economic concerns. The recent bad economic situation made it for revenue managers to maintain price positioning, because the drop in demand has shifted considerable pricing power to the customer. Although many hotels can compete effectively on price (and others may have little choice), revenue managers may also draw on numerous non-price competitive techniques, including adding value. One pricing approach might be to create a set of targeted rate promotions that are protected by rate fences and designed to attract price-conscious guests. Another technique is to bundle services into packages that disguise room rates. Non-price techniques include competing on the basi s of quality, creating strategic partnerships, taking advantage of your loyalty program, developing additional revenue sources, and developing additional market segments Even as they agreed that customers have gained considerable negotiating power, a research by Cornell university see a larger role for RM as the economy recovers. In the meantime, revenue managers have a key responsibility to determine ways to offset the loss of business by creating special rates that are protected by rate fences to attract different market segments or to augment existing packages to retain current business Looking ahead, revenue managers should be aware that customers will be strongly focused on price and less so on brand loyalty. The common thread in this view of hotels future is that RM is a valuable tool for hotel marketers and managers as they consider tactical price setting and strategic price positioning. The managers are well aware that revenue management cannot help in all cases. Also revenue managers should broaden the perspective on revenue management to include as many customer touch points as is appropriate. In a sense, this represents a combination of marketing principles with revenue management tactics. As demand returns, application of RM approaches will be able to help hotels find the way back to rate integrity. Based on that idea, now is the time to set price strategies and be ready with revenue management tactics when the recovery comes. Customer perception According to Cornell University research many managers have been reluctant to adopt revenue management practices because of possible customer dissatisfaction. They may well find support for their fears in the fairness literature, which has shown that customers will refuse to patronize companies perceived as unfair. Customers from different cultures and nationalities often have different service expectations (Donthu and Yoo 1998). For example, Lee and Ulgado (1997) found that American fast-food customers considered low prices to be of paramount importance when evaluating satisfaction, whereas Korean consumers were more concerned about service dimensions such as reliability and empathy. Also, Asians often see eating out as more of a social or family activity than do Americans or Europeans (Hall 1966)

The Agricultural Adjustment Act :: essays research papers

The Agricultural Adjustment Act   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During World War I, England’s agricultural economy was badly damaged. This inconvenience for the English was a blessing to American farmers. Since the invention of the combine, and various other mechanical harvesting machines, American farmers could increase their crop yield. In turn they could export the extra crops to England for more money. Once England got back on it’s feet, American farmers could not find any exports for their crops. As they continued to produce more than the American people could consume, the prices of agricultural goods dramatically dropped. By the 1930’s many farmers were in serious need of help, with heavy farm loans and mortgages hanging over their head’s. Nothing had been done to help the farmer’s during The Hoover Administration. So in 1933 as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal, the Secretary of Agriculture, Henry Wallace devised a plan to limit production and increase prices. Which came to be known as the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1933, also known as the AAA. The AAA was established on May 12, 1933 it was the New Deal idea to assist farmers during the Great Depression. It was the first widespread effort to raise and stabilize farm prices and income. The law created and authorized the Agricultural Adjustment Administration to: Enter into voluntary agreements to pay farmers to reduce production of basic commodities ( cotton, wheat, corn, rice, tobacco, hogs, milk, etc..), to make advanced payments to farmers who stored crops on the farm, create marketing agreements between farmers and middlemen, and to levy processing taxes to pay for production adjustments and market development. Basically the AAA paid farmers to destroy their crops and livestock in return for cash. In 1933 alone cotton farmers were paid $100 million to plow over their cotton crop. Six million piglets were slaughtered by the government after they bought them from farmers. The meat was canned and given to p eople without jobs. In order for this new bill to work there needed to be money to pay the farmers, this money came from the companies that bought farm products in the form of taxes. While it seemed like a good idea to pay farmers to cut back on crops to lowering the surplus and boost the economy, The Supreme Court found the Act unconstitutional in 1936.