Investment Analysis and Portfolio Value Management-Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Investment Analysis and Portfolio Value Management. Answer: Introduction The share valuation model provides the intrinsic value of the shares with analysing the fundamental financial data of the company. The valuation system provides the would be intrinsic value of the shares of every company on the basis of the financial performance. Unlike trend analysis, the valuation model provides the fundamental share price the by current financial performance, instead of any past financial trend of the company. The share valuation can be done by using several models like dividend discount model, capital asset pricing model, free cashflow based model and few others. Every model has some pros and cons and valuation of the share does not match for every case (Adorjan, 2007). The report has provided the deep insights on the valuation model and relevant literature present in finance. The report has presented the share valuation of TPG Telecom Limited, as Australia-based company listed in AU stock exchange (ASX). The analysis is supported by the relevant valuation model. Moreover, the report discusses market influence on the share price. Finally, the report provides a recommendation based on the analysed information in the report as to buy, hold or sell the securities of the said company. TPG Telecom Limited and Australian telecom industry TPG Telecom is popularly known as broadband and cellular carrier in Australia and Singapore mainly. The company has its presence in both segments of the market B2B and B2C for providing service of mobile telephone and mobile network. The company has recorded turnover in the last few years and has positioned itself at the second position in Australia in internet service segment. The company provides the accounting software to its business clients. The history of the company states that initially, the company used to sell OEM computers only. It has transformed its business since 2007 after acquiring Chariot. The merged entity of Chariot, SP Telemedia and TPG under one banner has provided internet service and mobile service to the customers in the country (www.tpg.com.au, 2017). The business of the company is divided into three parts mainly - the internet, system and mobile service. The company has segregated its business division with AAPT for every type of wholesale dealing. The comp any has recorded the second largest internet and the largest mobile service provider in the country. The business performance of the company has shown tremendous improvement recently. The acquisition of iiNet has provided an addition of 171k more subscribers in its mobile service industry (www.tpg.com.au, 2017). The entire revenue of the company is almost equally divided between wholesale and retail arms. iiNet has provided the boost in broadband subscribers too. The organic market share of broadband internet subscriber has seen the growth whereas the business of iiNet has declined by small portions. Share performance of the telecom industry in Australia The share price of TPG Telecom has shown a mild increase in the last quarter of 2016 whereas the peer company in the same industry cannot maintain the growth throughout the year. The following graph has shown that TPG Telecom has performed better than the industry recently in the secondary market (www.tpg.com.au, 2017). The sentiment of the investors is slightly bullish for the company, which is observed throughout the last quarter. Share valuation models There are several valuation models are present in the theoretical models. The best practice of the valuation is divided into two categories earning based and asset based valuation model. The earning based valuation models are suitable for the service related companies whereas the asset-based valuation is appropriate for the industry where sunk cost is high for the fixed assets (Arikan and Stulz, 2016). The TPG Telecom Limited is a service related company providing its customer's connection of internet and mobile network. So, the report has provided the earning based valuation of the company. There are two types of earning based valuation model earning per share and price to equity of the share and the second one is the dividend discount model. The price to earnings ratio is a model where earnings per share hold the importance. The major change in the price to earnings ratio can be seen due to change in the EPS value. The value of EPS is the intrinsic valuation of the shares of the companies. Additionally, the high EPS might not influence the price of the stock in the secondary market (www.tradingeconomics.com, 2017). It might drive the price of the share at the time of bull market with profound optimism, and the reverse is true too. The empirical formula of EPS is EPS = earnings/number of total shares (Bistrova et al. 2014) The EPS is the intrinsic value of the company, and the valuation cannot reflect the exact characteristics of the share price in the stock market. The analysts like to find the price to earnings ratio of the company where the change in the ratio due to due to any anomaly can be checked from time to time (Blau and Fuller, 2008). The increase in P/E (price/EPS) ratio shows that increase in the price of the share in the secondary market is responsible if the EPS of the company stands still. The change in EPS and the price of the share in the similar direction might not change the P/E ratio much, and it is an indication of the influence of the market price by the earnings of the business. Dividend discount model of the company shows the valuation of the share by predicting the future dividend of the company. The current price of the share is then compared with the price obtained in the discounted valuation of the dividend prediction model. If the current price is lower than that of the valued price applying the dividend discount model the share price is considered to be undervalued. The model is applicable for the companies pay dividends to its shareholders (Boudry, 2011). The application of this model allows the analysts to apply the constant dividend growth in future to predict the future growth in the earning model of the firm. The model provides the price of the share compare to growth in the dividend. But, the cost of equity is considered constant for the model, and it is the main drawback of the model (Campbell et al. 2012). The empirical formula of the dividend discount model is as follows: Value of stock = expected dividend per share / (cost of equity-dividend growth rate) (Ceria et al. 2011) The expected dividend is measured by measuring the average growth in the current dividend of the company. The model is suitable for the constant dividend growth model. The constant dividend growth might not be observed for the companies. At that moment, the empirical formula changes to the following form: Value per share = expected dividend per share / (1+ cost of equity)1 (Crilly, 2012) Capital asset pricing model The model provides the return measurement of any assets in the business. It also provides the measurement of the relationship between systematic risk and expected return of the stocks. The expected return of the asset is used as the cost of equity of any business as it might provide the shareholders with an idea of obtaining the return of their assets or the investments (Dasilas et al. 2008). The empirical formula of capital asset pricing model is as follows: Ra = Rf+ * (Rm- Rf) (Bistrova et al. 2014) The beta provides the measurement of the fluctuation of the stock market whereas ten years bond interest rate is considered as risk-free rate of the market. Analysis of share valuation and comparison between intrinsic and market price The analysis of share price is conducted using the dividend discount model as TPG Telecom has not paid a dividend to its shareholders for constant growth. The dividend payment cannot be analysed by Gordon constant growth model in this case. It is the only reason; the dividend discount model is used here where the discount rate is the cost of equity of the respective year (Edwards, 2012). However, the interpretation shows that the dividend payout is not in the constant growth for the last five years. So, the valuation of the share has shown negative value for the future. In this context, dividend discount model (DDM) is applied where growth rate is not considered. DDM is used to obtain the valuation of the share, especially when the stock shows abnormality in dividend growth. The given model shows the valuation at $18.26 per share of TPG Telecom Limited. The future price of the share of the company is for the next one year only. The high price of the future of the share in the stock m arket indicates that current price of the share lower than that of the current market price. So, the current price of the share is under priced in the stock market. In other words, the security is undervalued and having the potential to rise in the near future. The EPS of the company has grown in the last five year consistently. However, the price of the share in the stock market has not increased consistently. The closing price of the share is $12.83 in 2016, December whereas the price was $5.52 in December 2014. The price to earnings ratio has deteriorated during the last two years as seen from the following table. It proves that despite growth in earnings per share, the price of the share has decreased during the period. The P/E valuation model suggests that negative P/E growth has under price the share of the company in the stock market. Particulars/ Year 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 EPS (cents) 45.30 28.20 21.60 18.80 11.50 DPS (cents) 14.50 11.50 9.25 7.50 5.50 Change in DPS 26.09% 24.32% 23.33% 36.36% Average Change in DPS (g) 27.53% 10 Year's AU Bond Rate (Rf) 4.75% MPS 12.83 9.51 5.52 PE Ratio 0.28 0.34 0.26 Table 1: P/E Ratio and EPS of TPG Telecom (Source: created by author) Market influences on the share price The share price of the company can be influenced by the factors of the market. The price of the ASX 200 index during last financial year has shown that the stock market has decreased during the said period. However, contrary to this, the price of TPG securities has shown upward movement in FY2015-16. There are factors like iiNETacquisition which has proved to be one of the reasons for the increase in share price of the company. The change in the market has not influenced the price of the share at all, as the price of the share has increased at the end of the period. Recommendations Both types of measurement of valuation show that the investors must invest in the stock of the share. The dividend discount model shows that price of the share must be $18.26 in future by existing dividend of the company. The CAPM model where the cost of equity is shown as supporting the valuation of the share. In addition to this, the price to earnings ratio shows negative growth in the last year. The change in EPS is positive during the period. So, it can be recommended to the investors to invest in the share of TPG Telecoms the intrinsic value of the company is higher than that of the market price. It is normal to invest in that share where the cost of equity is low for the investors. The low cost of equity enhances the opportunity to the shareholders to maximise their investment by obtaining a high return on equity. In addition to this, the high EPS indicates that the company has high intrinsic value due to its growth. So, the shareholders would like to invest in the share of TPG Telecom Limited as it has low P/E ratio compared to EPS growth in the recent years. Conclusions The report has presented the necessary theoretical viewpoints on the share valuation of the companies. The dividend discount model and P/E ratio are used here to obtain the valuation of the share. The valuation has shown that TPG Telecom is undervalued in the market with its current financial performance. It is recommended to the investors to invest in this share after observing the economic situation in future. References Adorjan, I. (2007) Capital at work, Focaal, 2007(49), pp. 5052. Arikan, A.M. and Stulz, R.M. (2016) Corporate acquisitions, diversification, and the firms life cycle, The Journal of Finance, 71(1), pp. 139194. Bistrova, J., Titko, J. and Lace, N. (2014) SUSTAINABLE SHAREHOLDER VALUE: ANALYSIS OF VALUE DRIVERS, ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT, 19(2), pp. 125128. Blau, B.M. and Fuller, K.P. (2008) Flexibility and dividends, Journal of Corporate Finance, 14(2), pp. 133152. Boudry, W.I. (2011) An examination of REIT dividend payout policy, Real Estate Economics, 39(4), pp. 601634. Campbell, T., Fisher, J.G. and Stuart, N.V. (2012) Integrating sustainability with corporate strategy: A maturity model for the finance function, Journal of Corporate Accounting Finance, 23(5), pp. 6168. Ceria, S., Saxena, A. and Stubbs, R.A. (2011) Factor alignment problems and quantitative portfolio management, The Journal of Portfolio Management, 5(2), pp. 105152. Crilly, D. (2012) STAKEHOLDERS: THREAT OR OPPORTUNITY, Business Strategy Review, 23(4), pp. 5961. Dasilas, A., Lyroudi, K. and Ginoglou, D. (2008) Joint effects of interim dividend and earnings announcements in Greece, Studies in Economics and Finance, 25(4), pp. 212232. Edwards, S. (2012) Revenue Management: Maximising revenue in hospitality operations', Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, 12(1), pp. 9495. TPG Telecom (2016) TPG Telecom Limited and its controlled entities ABN 46 093 058 069 Annual report year ended 31 July 2016 2 TPG Telecom Limited and its controlled entities annual report. Available at: https://www.tpg.com.au/about/pdfs/FY16%20Annual%20Report.pdf (Accessed: 18 January 2017). Trading (2017) Australia government bond 10Y | 1969-2017 | data | chart | calendar. Available at: https://www.tradingeconomics.com/australia/government-bond-yield (Accessed: 18 January 2017). Yahoo Finance (2015) SP/ASX 200 stock - Yahoo! India Finance. Available at: https://in.finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=%5EAXJOa=00b=1c=2016d=11e=31f=2016g=d (Accessed: 18 January 2017) Eregha, P.B. (2012) The dynamic linkages between foreign direct investment and domestic investment in ECOWAS countries: A panel Cointegration analysis, African Development Review, 24(3), pp. 208220. Farooq, O. and Jabbouri, I. (2015) Cost of debt and dividend policy: Evidence from the MENA region, Journal of Applied Business Research (JABR), 31(5), p. 1637. Gaspareniene, L. (2015) The analysis of investment environment and foreign direct investment prognostication: Lithuanian case, Economics and Business, 27(1), pp. 5276. Henley, R. (2015) Using functional metrics to facilitate designing collectively exhaustive mutually exclusive systems in the context of managing return on investment, Procedia CIRP, 34, pp. 3136. Hervey, R.M. (2011) An analysis of the regulated investment company modernization act of 2010, Journal of Investment Compliance, 12(2), pp. 5171. Kumari, I. (2012) A study on the basics of investment With special reference to investment risks and investment alternatives, Global Journal For Research Analysis, 3(4), pp. 12. Oprea, A. (2010) The importance of investment feasibility analysis, Journal of Property Investment Finance, 28(1), pp. 5861.

The Importance of Business Intelligence

In today’s business world, the information gathered is very critical because it constitutes the important part of decision making in the organization.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Importance of Business Intelligence specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Intelligent decisions needs to be made to drive business forward thus the importance of business intelligence which is the computer based applications and technologies for gathering, storing and analyzing business data such as sales revenue and turnover to help in decision making in the organization. Systems application for business provide business people and organizations with the ability to interact with the organizations database and the ability to manage assets, finances, personnel, cost accounting, materials and production operations which are critical to the organization. This application popularly known as SAP has also some problems in consumer an d customer management where it has straggled to penetrate (Dipen, 2010). The strategy of business intelligence helps and benefits the forward thinking business in reaching their goals. It helps the organization to learn the enterprise efficiently capitalizing on the available data, the system can be implemented in different ways and the organization would need to figure out the kind of business intelligence applications it would need to use for the maximum benefit. In order to streamline the operations and have an advantage the application prays a crucial role in tracking and analyzing data. Based on its output the management is able to make decisions which are in line with the business operations (Doan, 2000).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is of great benefit to the business since it cuts down the cost and produces results which are more accurate unlike the tradition al system which heavily relies on the intelligence and experience of the involved person and in some cases can be prone to errors. Informed decisions are made using this software. Employees in the organization also gain knowledge and thus become informed through the software on how to position there product in the market and edge out competition. Every business has different requirements and therefore it is important to ensure that it gets a business system developed and customized by developers who truly understand the requirements of the business and thus can provide the services required and can deliver accordingly. The software provides up-to-date information which is used by management to act accordingly. Despite its popularity and importance the business information software has its drawbacks which in some cases can be critical (Linthicum, 2009). Roman Stanek advices that business intelligence is a luxury and only big organization can cope with its failure due to their financi al power. Its use of single true parameters which in some cases is not based on real time to aid the management, its non scalability to cope with the changes in the organization and its success not being easily measured constitutes a big factor in its lack of success. The lack of communication with the business to get the real needs since many of the questions which needs to be answered for its success are psychological and sociological and not technical which are mainly used (Roseti, 2005).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Importance of Business Intelligence specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The system may have its shortcomings but it’s practically impossible for many organizations to operate and make informed decisions without the business intelligence software which in recent times has become part of big organizations. Organizations like Microsoft and oracle use SAP to manage and run their business. These organizations are among the best in the world thus clearly depicting the importance of computerizing the decision making process. Political and other interference are drastically reduced using the system applications in the business and increases productivity and success (Loraine, 2008). References Dipen, V. (2010). Business Success without Business Intelligence is Possible? Web. Doan, A. (2000). SAP’s Problems Get Worse. Web. Linthicum, D. (2009). Leveraging Information and Intelligence. Web. Loraine, L. (2008). SAP Needs More than Tech Help to Fix Problems This Week. Web.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Roseti, L. (2005). Business Intelligence. Web. This essay on The Importance of Business Intelligence was written and submitted by user Josue Vega to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on Celebration Of Creativity

Celebration of Creativity: Three Centuries of Masterworks on Paper, from the Columbus Museum Celebration of Creativity is an eclectic display of artists’ research and social-commentary from the past three centuries. This exhibit contains 88 masterworks on paper organized by the Columbus Museum in Georgia from a recent gift of drawings. The works are predominantly by American artists and represent the changes in artistic styles and techniques. This exhibit is organized in five parts, including From European Traditions to the Face of a New Nation, American Renaissance and Cosmopolitanism, Realism, Modernism and the Avant-garde, Regionalism, Socialism and American Visions, and Beyond Modernism: Post-war Abstraction and Resurgence in Realism. From European Traditions to the Face of a New Nation, includes an extraordinary selection of landscape drawings and watercolors as well as portraiture. The artistic styles in this section include Neoclassicism (1780-1820) and Romanticism (1800-1850). Neoclassicism is a style developed during the enlightenment. Art made in the neoclassic style reflected Greek and Roman art. Neoclassic works are easy to spot by their order and solemnity. These works are intended to be uplifting and inspirational. Most neoclassic artists stressed drawing with lines instead of separation in color. They also were excellent painters and left no trace of brushstrokes. Another key aspect of neoclassic art is rhythm through geometry. Benjamin West, an American, was a painter of historical and religious subjects for the court of King George III. His work greatly resembles the neoclassic style. West accurately recreates time periods by depicting characters in similar costumes while also creating an a ctively organized, theatrical representation of the events that occurred. West’s exhibited drawing is typical of his work. It is a study for a painting he created to represent Moses’ triumph over Pharaoh.... Free Essays on Celebration Of Creativity Free Essays on Celebration Of Creativity Celebration of Creativity: Three Centuries of Masterworks on Paper, from the Columbus Museum Celebration of Creativity is an eclectic display of artists’ research and social-commentary from the past three centuries. This exhibit contains 88 masterworks on paper organized by the Columbus Museum in Georgia from a recent gift of drawings. The works are predominantly by American artists and represent the changes in artistic styles and techniques. This exhibit is organized in five parts, including From European Traditions to the Face of a New Nation, American Renaissance and Cosmopolitanism, Realism, Modernism and the Avant-garde, Regionalism, Socialism and American Visions, and Beyond Modernism: Post-war Abstraction and Resurgence in Realism. From European Traditions to the Face of a New Nation, includes an extraordinary selection of landscape drawings and watercolors as well as portraiture. The artistic styles in this section include Neoclassicism (1780-1820) and Romanticism (1800-1850). Neoclassicism is a style developed during the enlightenment. Art made in the neoclassic style reflected Greek and Roman art. Neoclassic works are easy to spot by their order and solemnity. These works are intended to be uplifting and inspirational. Most neoclassic artists stressed drawing with lines instead of separation in color. They also were excellent painters and left no trace of brushstrokes. Another key aspect of neoclassic art is rhythm through geometry. Benjamin West, an American, was a painter of historical and religious subjects for the court of King George III. His work greatly resembles the neoclassic style. West accurately recreates time periods by depicting characters in similar costumes while also creating an a ctively organized, theatrical representation of the events that occurred. West’s exhibited drawing is typical of his work. It is a study for a painting he created to represent Moses’ triumph over Pharaoh....

Rhetorical Devices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Rhetorical Devices - Essay Example This is a very complex and complicated matter. Now this  resolution will pass, although we all know that the President can wage a war even without it. However difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. Our country is in a state of mourning. Some of us must say, lets step back for a moment. Lets just pause, just for a minute and think through the implications of our actions today, so that this does not spiral out of control. Now I have agonized over this vote. But I came to grips with it today, and I came to grips with opposing this resolution during the very painful, yet very beautiful memorial service. As a member of the clergy so eloquently said, "As we act, let us not become the evil that we deplore." The speech of Barbara Lee in the House of Representatives on September 14, 2001 was a speech concerning H. J. Res. 64, or the authorization for the use of military force against those responsible for the 9-11 terrorist attacks in the United States. It was obvious from the speech that she did not want to vote for the passing of the bill because of her moral stance against violence and vengeance. In her speech, she showed her opposition to the proposed military authorization using certain rhetorical devices. For her logos or the use of reason in order to achieve her goal of convincing her fellow representatives of the futility of the military authorization, she used the statement: â€Å"†¦I am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism against the United States. This is a very complex and complicated matter† (Lee, 2001). This rhetorical device is credible. It is actually meant to give a logical reason to the whole speech, specifically to why the speaker refuses the military authorization. The idea of terrorism is indeed more difficult and complicated than something that can just be quelled by

Interview Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 7250 words

Interview - Research Paper Example Moreover, the interviews conducted have been aimed at determining the opinions held by the mentioned officials regarding the participation of their respective companies towards the furtherance of the efforts to transform the city of Abu Dhabi into an international field. Also, the conducted interviews sought to gain the view of said officials on employment, training and development, role of the private sector and Abu Dhabi’s local infrastructures. These then are believed to provide proper and complete information regarding the economic diversification of Abu Dhabi from the vantage point of Mudabala and Siemen’s as key players in the said undertaking. The purpose of this study is to understand the role played by Mudabala and Siemen’s in the economic diversification of Abu Dhabi. Mudabala Development Company (Mudabala) is an investment vehicle wholly-owned by the Government Abu Dhabi. Mudabala aims to further the economic of Abu Dhabi through diversification. The primary undertaking of the company is to enter into long-term capital-intensive investments so as to provide Abu Dhabi with strong financial returns and aggressive improvements in the city. On the other hand, Siemen’s, as an important member of the Masdar Institute has been instrumental in the process entailed by transformation. As a result, this paper endeavored to seek the opinion of the standard-bearers of the two companies taking the helm of the economic diversification of Abu Dhabi. The views expressed by the Chief Operating Officers of Mudabala and Siemen’s has been instrumental in establishing a clear and in-depth view as to the steps necessita ted by the â€Å"Plan Abu Dhabi 2030: Urban Structure Framework Plan.† The interviews conducted will provide the readers with a comprehensive look into the economic progressive course that Abu Dhabi is currently undertaking. Context has been defined as the manner by which people ascribe certain meaning to the

Alternative Assessment Essay Example for Free

Alternative Assessment Essay Consequently, assessment has also undergone a massive reform. This has led to a wider range of assessment now than there was twenty-five years ago (Gipps, 1994). Evidence has shown that educational systems have undergone assessment reforms, which are coincident with curriculum reforms (Nitko, 1995). A number of assessment methods have been applied in the Ghanaian educational system since the introduction of schooling in the country (MOE, 1987). The educational reform in Ghana began with the hope that learning was to be more practical and examinations should be based on practical oriented syllabus. What had emerged was that the cost and difficulties involved in assessing students’ practical work and the unreliability of teachers’ assessment had resulted in a return to the status quo, that is pen and paper tests. Currently, Ghanaian teachers tend to monitor students’ understanding through pen-and-paper tests and exercises in class, and move through the syllabus and textbook with little or no attempt to use new instructional strategies if students do not understand the material. The use of pen-and-paper tests has been used almost exclusively by schools to monitor students’ achievement. These tools have also dominated examination for the 1 professional certification of teacher and college admission. These strategies of assessing students have come under severe criticism by many educators (Wolf, 19891). The perception that much of what gets tested is not relevant or has not been taught to students has been a source of concern to many educators and parents. Such concerns have made educators direct their attention to a new approach to testing variously described as â€Å"performance assessment†, â€Å"authentic assessment†, portfolio assessment†, and â€Å"alternative assessment† (Winzer, 1992). The Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 1989) call for significant change in the way mathematics is taught. In conjunction with this demand for change in mathematics instruction, a change format for assessing students is needed. To document these new expressions of teaching and learning, alternative assessments have emerged as the vehicle by which students and teachers can organise, manage and analyse life inside and outside the school. One of the most exciting and liberating things about the current interest in assessment is the recognition that numerous assessment tools are available to schools, districts, and states that are developing new assessment systems. These tools range from standardized fixed-response tests to alternatives such as performance assessment, exhibitions, portfolios, and observation scales. However, in Ghana, alternative assessment is relatively an unknown concept and only few researches have been conducted in this area. Each type of assessment brings with it different strengths and weaknesses to the problem of fair and equitable assessment. Recognizing the complexity of understanding performance or success for individuals, it is virtually impossible that any single tool will 2 do the job of fairly assessing student performance. Instead, the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (1996) suggests that an assessment system made up of multiple assessments (including norm-referenced or criterion-referenced assessments, alternative assessments, and classroom assessments) can produce comprehensive, credible, dependable information upon which important decisions can be made about students, schools, districts, or states. Since the influence of testing on curriculum and instruction is now widely acknowledged, educators, policymakers, and others are turning to alternative assessment methods as a tool for educational reform. The movement away from traditional, multiplechoice tests to alternative assessments, variously called authentic assessment or performance assessment, has included a wide variety of strategies such as open-ended questions, exhibits, demonstrations, hands-on execution of experiments, computer simulations, writing in many disciplines, and portfolios of student work over time. These terms and assessment strategies have led the quest for more meaningful assessments which better capture the significant outcomes we want students to achieve and better match the kinds of tasks which they will need to accomplish in order to assure their future success. Billions of dollars are spent each year on education, yet there is widespread dissatisfaction with our educational system among educators, parents, policymakers, and the business community. Efforts to reform and restructure schools have focused attention on the role of assessment in school improvement. 3.  After years of increases in the quantity of formalized testing and the consequences of poor test scores, many educators have begun to strongly criticize the measures used to monitor student performance and evaluate programs. They claim that traditional measures fail to assess significant learning outcomes and thereby undermine curriculum, instruction, and policy decisions. The way in which students are assessed fundamentally affects their learning. Good assessment practice is designed to ensure that, in order to pass the module or programme, students have to demonstrate they have achieved the intended learning outcomes. To test a wide range of intended learning outcomes, diversity of assessment practice between and within different subjects is to be expected and welcomed, requiring and enabling students to demonstrate their capabilities and achievements within each module or programme. The aim of this paper is to provide a guide to the range of alternative assessment tools available, to discuss the potential benefits and difficulties in using the approach and suggest a process for its use. Alternative Assessment Alternative assessment is a generic term referring to the new forms of assessment (Winzer, 1992). It includes a variety of instruments that can be adapted to varying situations. The teacher and the students can collaboratively decide which procedures are to be used for assessment (Huerta Macias 1995). Individual students are also often given the responsibility of selecting specific products of their work on which they will be assessed. It provides the students with the opportunity to reflect on his/her learning 4 experience, pointing out what he/she understands, and the factors that contribute to his/her lack of understanding. The main goal of alternative assessment is to gather evidence about how students are approaching, processing, and completing â€Å"real-life† tasks in a particular domain (Garcia and Pearson, 1994). Alternative assessment may include interviews with students, journal writing by students, developing portfolios of students’ work and writing of reflections. Also, students are encouraged to engage in small co-operative group learning and may be assessed individually and jointly. Alternative assessment, most importantly, provides alternative to traditional assessment in that it; i. ii.does not intrude on regular classroom activities; provides multiple indices that can be used to gauge students progress; and iii. provides information on the strengths and weaknesses of each individual student (Huerta-Macias, 1995; p. 9) One of the major advantages of alternative assessment as a tool for assessing students is that it empowers students to become partners and decision makers in their learning (Smolen et al 1995). Curran (1997) in his study with middle level educators found that alternative assessment is most valuable for students’ involvement in metacognitive learning. Vlaskamp (1995) found that alternative assessment processes engage students to become active in learning. The processes offer them opportunities for reflection and to be thoughtful respondents and judges of their own learning. Lee (1996) 5 found that the real value of alternative assessment is an information source for teachers and a learning tool for the students. Alternative assessment includes a variety of instruments that can be adapted to varying situations. These instruments include the use of checklist of students’ behaviour or product, journals, reading log, videos of role plays, audio tape of discussions, self evaluation, questionnaire, work samples and teacher observation of anecdotal records (Huerta-Macias, 1995, p. 12). According to her, the teacher or instructor and students can collaboratively decide which procedures are to be used for assessment in a given class. Individual students are also given the responsibility of selecting specific products of their work on which they will be assessed. Portfolio Assessment The concept of portfolio assessment comes from the field of fine arts in which portfolios are used to demonstrate the depth and breath of an artist’s talents and capabilities. A portfolio is a systematic, well organised collection of evidence used to monitor the growth of a student’s knowledge, skills and attitudes (Bonnestetter, 1994). It is a purposeful collection of students work that exhibits to the students and others the student’s efforts, progress or achievement in (a) given area(s) (Reckase 1995). This collection according to them should include: ? Student participation in selection of portfolio contents ? The criteria for selection, and evidence of student self-reflection (p. 12) To fulfil the purpose of portfolio assessment as a methodology based on multiple measures and high content validity, the portfolio is to be composed of materials that 6 should be selected jointly by the student and the teacher to reflect the students work over the entire schooling period. activities. To help the students select materials for the portfolio, a set of guidelines should be made available to the students. The guidelines include how the content of the All work are to be taken directly from the classroom portfolio is to be selected and the criteria that would be used to assess the portfolios. The contents of the students’ portfolios are to include the following: i. ii. iii. iv. individual assignments (homework and tests); group assignments; self reflection on each selected student or group work group reflection on group work. The reflections are to indicate evidence of learning mathematics in the school, what they know and can do. They are also to explain what they have understood and the action that contributes to their understanding. They are to identify what they still do not understand and explain the cause of their lack of understanding and what they can do to change the situation. Journal A journal is a daily or weekly record of occurrences, experiences or observations (Berenson and Carter, 1995). Journal writing by students can be used to record the daily and weekly mathematics learning experiences and the attitude of students towards mathematics. The journal can be used to keep track of the students’ progress in  mathematics and to gain insight into the understanding and misunderstanding of the 7 student. The journal can also be used to document the students attitudinal changes during the project. Students are asked to write three sets of journals in each semester (term). The first one is to be written during the first week of the semester (term), the second in the fourth week and the third journal in the last week of the semester (term). At the beginning of the semester(term), the students should be asked to write journals to indicate their previous and current feelings about mathematics. They are also to assess their strengths and weaknesses in mathematics, pointing out the factors that contributed to their failure or success and describe what they need to do. During the fourth week of the semester, the students would be asked again to write journals to identify ideas they understood easily during discussions with the teacher or their colleagues, and then explain why it was easy for them to understand such ideas. They are to identify ideas, which are still difficult for them to understand, and explain why they thnk they are having such difficulties in comprehending these ideas. They are to comment on a homework or class test they did, and explain why they thought they did well or did not do well. They are to identify aspects of their work that needed improvement. They are also to explain what they learned from doing homework or taking a test and state what they would do differently if they are to do the homework or take the test again. During the last week of the semester(term), students are to write another journal. They should be asked to express their feelings of the test, classwork, homework etc, and their feeling about mathematics. They are to state whether there is any improvement in 8 their learning or understanding of mathematics, and identify things, which contribute to their understanding or lack of understanding. Journal writing can be used as means of regularly focusing on course progress and possible modifications. The journals are the first step in placing the responsibility for learning with the students. Research had found that the journal was an important diagnostic tool in three important ways. First, as a writing sample, it provided information about students’ strengths and weaknesses in mathematics. Second, the journals gave an indication of how the students perceived themselves, and finally, the journals revealed students’ perceptions of the mathematics learning process. The journal the students write will help teachers to know early in the course how students perceived themselves as mathematics learners and how they understood the learning process entailed. Whenever their work was seen, evaluations were made which either corroborated their assessment or highlighted their misconceptions. With this information, the students will be helped to become better more efficient learners. When misconceptions are discovered, students will be helped to establish realistic expectations about what mathematics skills they need to achieve their goals. In fact, the first journal they write is an important point of reference when working with individual students and helping them to identify their objectives during the learning process. Research findings show that journal writing provides the opportunities for the students to reflect on the learning process, and to develop new learning skills. These opportunities will help the students to identify differences between their school experiences and those they are encountering at college. 9 Challenges Testing for accountability purpose is essentially large scale testing and for this reason it relies on tests that are relatively cheap, brief, offer broad but shallow coverage, are easy to score and reliable (Gipps, 1994). Alternative assessment by contrast is timeconsuming, tends to provide detailed multi- dimensional information about a particular skill or area; (and because of time factor, depth may be exchanged for breadth), scoring is generally complex and usually involves the classroom teacher Standardisation of the performance is not possible and therefore reliability in the traditional sense is not high (Mehrens, 1992). However, alternative assessment in general, has become the cornerstone of educational reform movement. The arguments for using these forms of assessment to support instructional practice are that; (i) they engage students in tasks that are more comprehensive and consistent with the goals of a discipline or resonant with the desired outcomes of educational process; (ii) they provide detailed evidence about student’s thinking that enables more specific instructional decision making; and (iii) they encourage students to take active role in their own assessment enabling a sharing responsibility for learning (LeMahieu, et.al. 1995, p11) Many educators are of the view that alternative assessment must be held to the same stringent standard of reliability, validity and objectivity as those achieved by standardised norm referenced assessment, if it is to provide credible and legally defensible measure of learning and performance (Linn and Burtin, 1994). 10 Objections to alternative assessment are often voiced in terms of validity, reliability and objectivity. Questions that focus around these issues are: i. ii. iii. Does the instrument measure what it is supposed to measure? Is the instrument consistent in its measurement? Is the instrument unbiased? (Garcia and Pearson, 1994). Alternative assessment represents the best of worlds in that it looks at actual performance on real life tasks, such as writing, self-editing, reading, participation in collaborative work, and doing a demonstration in front of a group. These procedures are in themselves valid (Garcia and Pearson, 1994). As regards reliability of alternative assessment, Huerta Macias (1955), mentions triangulation as a means of ensuring reliability in a qualitative research. In qualitative research, triangulation refers to the combination of methodologies to strengthen a study design. When applied to alternative assessment, triangulation refers to the collection of data/information from three difference sources/perspectives teacher, student, and parent. On the question of objectivity of alternative assessment, research findings show that, standardised tests merely represent agreement among a number of people on scoring procedures, format or content. These individuals are not objective; they just collectively shared the same biases. In this regard, Huerta Marcias (1995) says that standardised test is not more objective than an alternative assessment. Other challenges of alternative assessment have to do with curriculum and instructional practice. Torrance (1993) reviewed the impact alternative assessment has on curricular and instructional practice in the context of the National Assessment in England and Wales. Among the concerns raised were exorbitant demands on teachers, adding up 11 to two to three hours of extra work daily. Teachers also reported dissatisfaction with managing assessment interactions with small groups of students while trying to maintain the focus of all students. Torrance (1993) concluded that teachers treated assessment as a special activity set apart from teaching, and they felt obliged to do this by the instructions they received, a vision at odds with the integrated assessment and instruction offered by alternative assessment advocates. The question of relative practicality of alternative and traditional assessment in terms of time consumption has been raised by many authors (Linn, 1993; Gipps 1994). Research results indicate that alternative assessment is not more time consuming than traditional assessment on the part of the students. Research has shown that students can cope with the time demands of the alternative assessment(Eshun Abledu, 2000). Educational Implications and Recommendations The following educational implications and recommendations are made for improving the academic performance and enhancing positive attitude of students in mathematics: i. Through alternative assessment processes, the teacher is given the opportunity to know from the students’ journals and portfolios the positive and negative points of his teaching process and work out strategies for his subsequent teaching. ii. Alternative assessment processes offer a chance for the development of better student- student and student-teacher relationship. During their group work and discussions of their journals with the teacher a friendly climate is generated which helps them to get to know one another better. 12 iii. With alternative assessment the teacher is given a chance to break the everyday monotonous teaching routine. Activities are organised for the students that create a pleasant and motivating atmosphere in the classroom, which revives the interest of the pupils for the subject. iv. Alternative assessment processes lead to discovery learning and planning. Thus, it is valuable for increasing and maintaining the efficiency of the skills and concepts that the students learn. However, it makes heavy demands on the teacher to plan activities for the students. v. Students who have language problems will be unwilling to communicate in writing with the teacher. Teachers who use alternative assessment processes should rely more on oral interview than the writing of journal. vi. The positive benefits of alternative assessment lie not only in its  implementation but also in the teachers’ ability to extend and enrich the curriculum through the activities he/she arranges for the students. Thorough planning and understanding of the skills students must develop are prerequisite to successful implementation of alternative assessment processes. Teachers must be trained to live up to the task. It is recommended therefore that pre-service teachers be introduced to the alternative assessment processes. In-service and induction courses on alternative assessment can be organised for teachers who are already teaching. This training is worthwhile since teachers will have the means to bring about higher achievement in mathematics and higher attitudinal changes in female pre-service teachers towards mathematics. 13 vii. Teachers need to provide many opportunities for students to explore and reflect on mathematical concepts. Having students talk and write about mathematical concepts and how these ideas are applied in various problems situation can strengthen their understanding and provide valuable information to the teachers. It is therefore recommended that mathematics concepts be presented to students through the alternative assessment processes. This will then enhance the current programme of promoting the interest of girls in Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (STME). viii. To evaluate our programmes and the progress students are making, me must look beyond the current traditional assessment alone, and find better ways of assessing students’ creativity, ability, and sensitivity in mathematics. The point is, continuous assessment ought to provide a more comprehensive view of pupils’ all-round performance. The Ministry of Education (MOE), the Ghana Education Service (GES) and other policy makers on education must adopt alternative assessment to improve female students’ performance and attitudes in mathematics. Conclusion Knowing mathematics is doing mathematics. We need to create situations where students can be active, creative, and responsive to the physical world. I believe that to learn mathematics, students must construct it for themselves. They can only do that by exploring, justifying, representing, discussing, using, describing, investigating, 14  predicting, in short by being active in the world. Alternative assessment is an ideal activity for such processes. Reference Brady, R. (1991). A Close Look at Student Problem Solving and the Teaching of Mathematics: Predicaments and Possibilities. School Social Science and Mathematics. 91(4), 144-150. Eshun B. A and Abledu, G. K. (2001): The Effects of Alternative Assessment on the Attitudes and Achievement in Mathematics of Female Pre-service Teachers. African Journal of Educational Studies. Vol. 1. p. 21-30 Garcia, G. E. Pearson, P. D. (1994). Assessment and Diversity. In L. Darling Hammond (Ed. ) Review of Research Education . 337-391. Huerta – Macias, A. (1995). Alternative Assessment: Responses to Commonly asked Questions. TESOL Journal. 5 (1) : 8-11. Smolen, L. et. al. (1995). Developing Student Self-Assessment strategies. TESOL Journal. Vol. 5(1) 22 27. Gipps, C. V. (1994). Beyond testing: Towards a theory of educational assessment. The Falmer Press, London. Lee, T. W. (1996). Mathematics portfolios. NCTM’s goals and students perceptions. A complex analysis. Abstract International 57 (6). Vlaskamp, D. C. (1995). Encouragement of Student Learning through a Portfolio Process. Dissertation Abstract International. 55(1). Mehren, W. A (1992). Using Performance assessment for accountability Purposes. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. 11, (1), 3-9. 15 Linn, R. L. Burton, E. (1994). Performance Based Assessment: Implications of Task Specificity. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice. 13 (1) 5-8. Torrance, H. (1993). Combining measurement –driven instruction with authentic assessment: Some initial observations. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis,15, 18-90. 16.

Sin and Humanity Essay -- The Scarlet Letter Novels Essays

Sin and Humanity In most novels, old and new, a few general themes can be interpreted. The Scarlet Letter is a novel filled with many contrasting themes. The most prominent theme in the book is that of the many sides of sin. Through the book it is shown that sin is inescapable, un-confessed sin destroys souls, and that there can be different types of sin. Although there are many more themes in The Scarlet Letter, these are most prominent. When stripped to basics there are only two reasons for sin. Love and Hate. These are the only two reasons sin is committed. Although these are rather broad feelings in the spectrum of human emotion, these two emotions seem to control all others. In The Scarlet Letter, this idea of sin is made clear. Sin is portrayed by love and hate. For instance, one of the major parts of the plot is the fact that Hester and Dimmesdale commit ery. This sin wasn’t about hate. It was purely about love. Although this sin is one of love, it doesn’t seem to be and easier to bear by the couple. Another sin of love is the defiance of an entire religion for someone you love. Dimmesdale shows this as he confesses in front of the town. Along with the sin of ery, the book shows a great example of a sin of hate. Chillingworth seems to embody this sin. He is even referred to as the black man (devil). As if a reference to the Devil was bad enough, he was described as having a â€Å"crooked† hunch. Which only translates to his â€Å"Crooked† soul. Over the course of th...