Article # 3 (due 9-28) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Article # 3 (due 9-28) - Essay Example the onset of accounting leases rule, the financial management department has been able to prepare the balance sheet and maintain financial records without including the lease assets. The financial lease is efficient for health care providers who are still developing and cannot afford sophisticated equipment. The leasing process requires that an outside party undertakes in the process. With the current rule, the health care providers can finance the project without involving a third party. The financial lease has a positive impact on the organization since the health care provider according to James and Aaron (2012) can grow technologically by leasing medical equipments and machinery which are costly. The lease is also advantageous since it helps health care providers to gain geographically efficient developers, and through the program, finance and get ownership of medical facilities. The leasing program assists the health care providers reduces the pressure in the operation of the organization. On a negative perspective, the lease program may negatively impact on the leasing process in regard to geographical print and the financial activities (James and Aaron, 2012). This is because the health care executives scrutinize and over- analyzes the operations of the

The role and responsibilities of a subject leader in secondary school Essay

The role and responsibilities of a subject leader in secondary school - Essay Example Subject leaders are responsible for meeting the needs of all pupils in their area of work through planning that emphasises individual needs; through teaching that recognises the importance of clear learning objectives and high expectations for all pupils; through assessment that informs planning and learning; through close collaboration with other staff in devising and implementing individual education plans, and through the deployment of staff and resources as determined by pupils' needs. This places a particular responsibility on subject leaders to develop and agree systems and procedures with other members of the team. (Green, 2004) Effective leaders motivate and support all those efforts that are involved in teaching and learning in their subject or area of work. This includes recognising and acknowledging the contributions of others, building and maintaining a team with clear aims, clear goals direction and targets, and helping others and self to set and meet appropriate professional development targets. Leaders possess the responsibility for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of teaching and learning in their subject or area of work, in particular to help set targets for pupil and staff performance, and determine any priorities in relation to the subject or area of work. ... size of the school or college and in many smaller schools the head teacher may retain a major responsibility for monitoring and evaluating both pupil and staff performance. The subject leader still want to use evidence of pupils' achievement and start developing plans to set targets and looks forward for improvement. (Holden et al, 2000) Subject leaders need to be confident about and have expertise in their subject or area of work in terms both of knowledge and understanding and of pedagogy. Subject Leaders Accountability Subject leaders are accountable for performance within their particular subject area. They are accountable to pupils, parents, colleagues and the senior management team of the school in which they work. (Green, 2004) "Accountability" as the term is used today refers to the belief that teachers and schools should answer to the public for the academic achievement of students. Indicators are used to represent what and how much students have learned. Following this line of reasoning, it makes perfect sense to design assessments that can be used to measure student outcomes and to infer teacher and school competence from these reported outcomes. Consequently, accountability becomes operational through the administration of tests that serve as mechanisms to audit the performance of teachers and schools. According to Bernauer, "School leaders must effect certain school-level changes as a precondition for ongoing improvement, particularly in regard to the allocation of time; that is, in order for dialogue to be productive, it must not only be focused but also be a regular component of the school day. Adequate instructional time must also be available if the results of dialogue are to be effectively transformed and delivered in the classroom. While there

Devil in the White City Essay Example for Free

Devil in the White City Essay The Devil in the White City takes two aspects that rose in Chicago during the late 1880s and the early 1890s and interlocks them. The World Fair did not just bring millions of people to the city, it brought optimism. Even though Chicago became magnificent through the Fair, it still remained in a mind frame of racism, inequality of gender, separation of social class, and countless murders. The story of the White City of Chicago enhances the story of the Devil, H. H. Holmes, who found contentment within its walls and created a downfall of humanism all on his own. Daniel Burnham and John Root created the White City with the help of many architects from New York, Boston, St. Louis and Chicago. Burnham focused on the public relations so he mainly found the work and also took care of the money coming in. On the other side, Root was an innovator. He drew the blueprints and built what Root had agreed to do. Throughout many challenges, and tragedy, both men planned the building of the White City and enhanced its landscape. The White City was given to the 1893 Worlds Exposition celebrating Columbus discovery of America. The city of Chicago was given the honor of hosting the extravagant affair. Many people remained anxious, thinking that the Exposition would not excel a county fair, because they only envisioned Chicago as just an uncultured, meatpacking city and nothing more. But then the news came and Chicago was to be the host; the people of Chicago were ecstatic. They could finally show everyone they were as cultured and civilized as New York and maybe even better. Upon this great news, the firm of Burnham and Root was given the task of creating the Exposition grounds. The task had to be completed in approximately three years to be ready for the Dedication Ceremony and Opening Day. Three of their major obstacles were the location of the Exposition, its planning and design of the Exposition. It took them almost six months to decide on a location, so they only had two years and a half to design the building and landscape and then build the final product. It appeared to be an impossible task at the time. As soon as one challenge was met, three more would arise. One of the most prominent challenges was to create something that was comparable or preferably better than the Eiffel Tower, which was built for the Paris Exposition. America wanted the world to know that it could have a better World Fair Exposition than anything that had been done before. Other issues included the continued possibility of strikes from the workers, fighting committees for the approval of everything, deciding who would design the buildings and landscape, the economy, which was on the verge of collapsing during this period, and the power struggle between the National Committee for the Exposition and the Exposition Company. Everything was always behind schedule or at least appeared to but all of the architects from New York, Boston, Chicago and St stepped up to the plate. The workers, even with impending strikes, felt the patriotic spirit and worked harder and faster to finish their job. Burnham and his crew got the exposition grounds ready for the Dedication Ceremony, which was about one month before opening day. Things still needed to be completed, but it was closer to being done than anyone had expected. On Opening Day, things still needed to be accomplished but in general the fair had been completed. The Ferris wheel, Americas response to the Eiffel Tower, opened 51 days late, but from the day of its first rotation, people were enamored with the wheel. The landscape was not entirely done but it went on to be completed within the next couple of weeks. The maintenance of the wheel continued for the full six months that the fair was open. With many people out of work, this provided jobs for lots of poor families for a while. The World Fair Exposition was great because not only did it beautify Chicago but it also told the world that there is nothing American people could not do when they put their minds to it. As one critic said, â€Å"It was a common remark among visitors who saw the Fair for the first time that nothing they had read or seen pictured had given them an idea of it, or prepared them for what they saw† (Larson 255). The Fair ended up by being far impressive and more influential than anyone had ever imagined. The downside of this success is that this was a celebration of â€Å"white† America, the majority of the population, not all of America. Frederick Douglass fought for the chance to present the progress African-Americans had made since the end of slavery but they, the owners, wanted only to exhibit the Negro as a repulsive savage and nothing else. As Douglass once said, â€Å"America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future. † There were no blacks in the Exposition at all. The World Fair had a Colored People’s Day during which Native Americans would be half-naked and equipped with arrows to portray them as a lesser class as the whites. With its glory, the World Fair Exposition brought with it racism. It was ruled by the politics of rage. If the blacks had been represented, one could say that the Civil Rights movement would have happened a lot earlier than the 1960s because many people would have seen their progress since slavery and the blacks would have demanded to be treated as equals. There was also an issue of gender even before the Fair had started. During the building of the World Fair, women were not included as workers at all. They were expected to stay at home to take care of the kids and have dinner on the table when their husbands returned from work. They were treated as if all they could do was to stay at home and were incapable of bringing money in the family or take care of it financially. Another major setback was the separation of the social class. Only the upper class white men were allowed to show off what they had and everyone else was limited. Whites were portrayed as rich, powerful, and fearless during the parade while the lower and inferior class, such as African-Americans and Native Americans, were being restricted to take part of the white city. At the end of the Exposition Grounds, on the corner of Wallace and 63rd Streets, H. H. Holmes started making his plans. He had started his criminal life with insurance fraud, but found the killing part to be the most fun and exciting. He built his castle to feed his obsession, and once he discovered that the Exposition was coming to Chicago, it made his castle much more important. People, mainly women, would come to him for employment and after he gave them a job, he made sure it was their last job by killing them and selling their corpses to colleges to make money. His â€Å"castle† allowed him to commit murder at his leisure without anyone knowing about it. Before the Exposition opened, Holmes had already begun his killings. He used his charms and his intelligence to lure women into thinking that he was an ordinary man. He seduced women his looks and then killed them and their children. He continued this hobby until just before the close of the Exposition. It was said that he killed approximately 200 men, women and children; however, the courts could only prove nine actual killings due to the fact that only small bone fragments remained in the three-story house castle and the bones that were recovered from his torturous rampage could not be used to identify who the dead people due to the lack of technology. H. H. Holmes had been incarcerated on insurance fraud charges when the Pinkerton Detective Agency started probing into the disappearance of his best friend, whom he had killed so he could collect the life insurance. Battle tested, the Agency ended up by catching up with Holmes. By then a lot of people were missing or dead but it should not have been this way because he could have caught earlier but H. H. Holmes moved faster than society and society was not ready for him. The time he lived in aided him tremendously. A train trip took a couple of weeks to reach their destinations so it was not natural not to here from a relative for a long time and this made it impossible for one to know if the person was actually missing. Most of his victims were women because once they arrived in Chicago for the World Fair; they had no idea where to stay so they stayed at the Castle. As H. H. Holmes said, â€Å"I was born with the Devil in me. I could not help the fact that I was a murderer, no more than the poet can help the inspiration to sing† (Larson 109) Based on this quote, one would say that Holmes did not require a motive to do what he took part in because he was already a sociopath who waited for the perfect time to strike and based his entirely life around murders and making money by selling corpses. H. H. Holmes affected more people’s lives during the Fair than the actual World Fair itself because he was not like Jack the Ripper; He was a cold-blooded murderer and sociopath that lived just a few blocks down the road. He inserting fear in the heart of every woman in Chicago and forced Detective Agencies to catch up with him by inventing the â€Å"mug shot. † One would agree with his statement because during this gruesome period, Holmes did not show any emotions for anyone that he took a life from. It seems as if he never had a goal in life so once he had this mind-blowing idea, he stuck to it and exiled himself from humanity. The fact that he also went to college and finished medical school proves that this man is more than capable of being smart but all he knew how to do was to be a Devil. Throughout The Devil in the White City, Larson does a great job by telling us that one cannot choose what he wants and avoid or disregard the rest because it will catch up sooner or later. To a certain point, Larson is emphasizing that H. H. Holmes would have never been so successful with all his killings if the World Fair Exposition had not taken place. He certainly would have had fewer victims and could have definitely been caught earlier. America, presumably Chicago, wanted to outdo Paris and thought that things such as the gruesome murders that were happening in London would never reach their home towns. At the end, America did better at both ends because they did a lot better than the Paris Exposition and they also inherited H. H. Holmes, America’s first serial killer. This book was very gripping and many of the things were quite surprising and unbelievable to say the least. It maintained a perfect balance of the World Fair Exposition and the introduction of America’s first serial killer. I would definitely urge others to pick this up and ready themselves for a train ride because it keeps you on the edge and envelops you with the endless details. REFERENCES Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America. New York: Crown, 2003. Borowski, John. H. H. Holmes America’s First Serial Killer: The Castle, the Murders, the Monster. Film Festival 2004.

Parable Of The Prodigal Son Analysis Religion Essay

Parable Of The Prodigal Son Analysis Religion Essay In the Bible, one can find many different ways in which the text of the Bible demonstrates basic principles and standards through stories, poetry, narratives, prophecy, and apocalyptic literature. The most common in the Gospels, of the teachings of Jesus Christ, is the parable. What is a parable? A parable is a fictitious story designed to teach a lesson through comparison or contrast. For this paper, we will examine the Parable of the Prodigal Son, found in the fifteenth chapter of Luke. In this paper, we will explore the theme of the theme the chapter in which the Parable of the Prodigal son is found, as well as the parables interpretation, and practical applications. The Parable of the Prodigal Son taught by Jesus was proclaimed to teach forgiveness. However, before we can further examine its theme, a historical and literary analysis of the Gospel of Luke must be conducted to enhance the readers approach to how one comprehends this books message. The dating of the third Gospel is important in grasping the historicity of it. While the exact year of authorship is not known, many scholars believe it was written between 60-85 A.D. One may also note that the third Gospel does not directly identify its author. (Roberts). We are left to examine the internal and external evidence in order to draw the most plausible conclusion. The piece of evidence, which drives some to Lukes authorship of the third gospel, is that the author presents himself as Pauls companion and is pointed out in Pauls writings in Philemon 24 and Colossians 4:14 as one of Pauls traveling companions. While the dating and authorship of the third gospel have been established, the context for the parable of the prodigal son and the elder brother in Luke 15:11-32 in Jesus ministry seems à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦to be a story designed by Jesus to put in perspectiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦what God was doing as he consorted with sinners. (Nolland). By the time the reader arrives at the fifteenth chapter of the gospel of Luke, they have already seen Jesus experience encounters with numerous situations of confronting sinners including: the angered people in the Temple on the Sabbath day in Nazareth in Luke 4:28-29, the judgmental Pharisees watching Jesus heal the man with a withered hand on the Sabbath in Luke 6:6-11, the sinful woman with an alabaster flask of ointment in Luke 7:36-50, and a Samaritan village which rejected Jesus in Luke 9:51-56. These events, which lead up to Jesus telling the parable of the prodigal son, seemed to build up to a strategic location of order for this parable for God to spea k through the author of the importance of forgiveness. While historical background of the Gospel of Luke is important, the literary background of it is equally exigent. The passage of Luke 15:11-32 is an allegorical, realistic story, which is rich in homely detail and characterization. (Drury). If the parable is read or heard as solely anecdotal, it may be entertaining, but it does not do accomplish the goal of the speaker. While the overall purpose of this parable is mainly to offer the reader or hearer a new understanding of the situation and to lead them to make a decision, the story also forms together to break into two separate stories of one family which ties together at the end of the parable. The first focuses on the prodigal son in verses 11-24, and second on the elder brother in verses 25-32. In both parts of the story the focus is first on the son and then on the father. (Talbert). Historically and literarily viewing what is commonly known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son is imperative in journeying through an examination of this parable. Authors Interpretation of the Parable Since the purpose of this paper is to express how Jesus told the Parable of the Prodigal Son to teach forgiveness, this portion of this paper will concentrate on verses 11-32 of Luke. This section of the paper will show the detailed specification of how Jesus taught people with relevant topics in every persons life, namely forgiveness. The parables beginning is one that shows the choices of the younger son. Verses 11-13 begin this parable. Verse 11 begins the parable by stating, A certain man had two sons. (The Holy Bible, KJV/AMP). This verse gives the reader the facts of the people involved in this story. There was a certain man, and this man had to have two sons. After the reader is introduced to the basic facts of the story, verses 12-13 show the choices of the younger son. The key portion of verses 12-13 is shown in the latter portion of verse 13 where the text states, there wasted his substance with riotous living The word riotous shows the sinful act of the younger son. This portion must be where the younger son first sinned in the story due to his ignoring that his father had a moral claim on his property, that his father, so long as he lived, had a right to call, in case of necessity, upon the sons labour and his savings. (Derret). Verses 14-16 shows the dilemma of the younger son. Verse 14 expresses the difficult dilemma the youngest son finds himself in is two-fold: he squandered the money, and a famine ensued. This famine is no ordinary famine. The famine is a severe famine. (The Holy Bible, NIV). As a result, the younger son is forced to feed pigs in verse 15. Because the feeding of pigs was highly frowned upon in the Jewish culture as is shown in Leviticus 11:7 and Deuteronomy 14:8, this act continues to lead the son further away from the father The next verse, verse 16, shows a true act of desperation and shows how quickly the younger son came to the realization that pigs were eating better than he did. Verses 17-19 express the younger son coming to his senses as to what is truly wise for his life not only for food, but also for seeking forgiveness and mending a relationship he had previously injured. Although he made a major mistake in his life, he finally came to the point of realization that he was wrong, and he must go to his father to seek forgiveness. Verses 18 and 19 represent what the younger son says he will say when he seeks his fathers forgiveness. Verse 19 shows where the prodigal son feels he has burnt his bridges, and he is literally no longer worthy to be called his fathers son.15 He is so humbled at this point that he asks for the opportunity to even be a hired servant. Verse 20 represents a reunion between a father and son who, despite conflict in their relationship, sought reconciliation beginning in this verse. The father was so excited about the return of his son that he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. (The Message). This action by the father was contrary to all custom; in the near East, a mature man loses all dignity when he runs. (Schweizer). This greeting from the father running to the younger son was one of warmth and forgiveness. Verse 21 contains the deliverance of the rehearsed speech from verses 18 and 19. The younger son finally asked for forgiveness after so much time of disobedience. The father did not interrupt the son to cause him to fail conclude the previously rehearsed speech of forgiveness. Not only was a kiss on the cheek a sign of forgiveness, but also a sign of reconciliation. As this action from the father represented the forgiveness and reconciliation, the robe represented a sign of honor, the ring represented a sign of authority, the shoes a sign of a free man, and the feast a sign of joy. Verses 27-30 show the older brother with an opposite response than the father pertaining to the return of his brother. Instead of excitement, he was bitter and jealous. During this bitterness the older brother was just as sinful as his younger brother who sinned in other ways. Verses 31-32 conclude the parable of Luke 15:11-32 and marks the response by the father to the elder brother. The father reminds his eldest son all that I have is thine, signifying that all that is left is his to inherit. (The Holy Bible, KJV/AMP) Nevertheless, he also reminds him about his brother, who was thought dead, has returned alive to them. I believe Jesus included this parable in his ministry to remind the people that God, the Father, like the father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son, is willing to allow his children to venture off and explore the world. When his children make a mess out of their situation and are not worthy to come back Him, God stands waiting and watching for his children to return. And when they do, He is there to embrace them with open arms, clothe them with honor, and celebrate their return. Practical Application of the Parable The Parable of the Prodigal son is a story that expresses the reality of giving into temptation, the jealousy that comes as a result of sibling rivalry, the forgiveness of a loving father. The reality of giving into temptation is one that occurs by all people as all have sinned and fallen short of God glory. This story began with the younger son giving into temptation in verse twelve by saying, Father, give me the part of the estate that lays upon me. As Enron employees saw an easy opening of temptation cross their paths, they, too gave into temptation, and faced consequences for that. Although the parable of the prodigal son is a story which was told over 2,000 years ago, it still teaches the same lesson in the twenty-first century which was intended back then. Not only does the parable of the prodigal son and the elder brother teach the reality of giving into temptation, but it also teaches the reality of being jealous because of sibling rivalry. The jealousy the elder brother showed in verses 29 and 30 of Luke chapter 15 was apparent when the elder brother said to his father, I have been serving you for so many years and I have never passed by a command of yoursà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but when this son of yours cameà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦you sacrificed the fattened calf for him. These verses are similar to any sibling rivalry of children growing up and the situation occurs where one child receives more attention, a nicer Christmas present, or is just simply not favored as much as their sibling. This is present to different extents in many siblings relationships. As this was true in this parable, it is also true today. The parable of the prodigal son and the elder brother concludes by the father teaching the elder brother through his fatherly wisdom that its important to look past the previous mistakes of his younger brother and to celebrate the repentance and return of a fellow family member. Just like then, the Parable of the Prodigal Son illustrates the forgiveness of the Father in Heaven. When his children slip and fall from the grace of God, God does not turn his back on his children and forget about them. Instead, God is always waiting for us to return. Moreover, when we do return, He will welcome us into his arms and place us back at the table where we belong. Reflective Conclusion By doing this assignment,

Slaughterhouse Five Essay -- essays research papers

Slaughterhouse Five Billy Pilgrim is born in 1922 and grows up in Ilium, New York. A funny-looking, weak youth, he does well in high school, then he enrolls in night classes at the Ilium School of Optometry, and is soon drafted into the army. He serves as a chaplain's assistant, is sent into the Battle of the Bulge, and almost gets taken prisoner by the Germans. Just before being captured he first becomes unstuck in time. He sees the entirety of his life in one sweep. Billy is transported with other privates to the beautiful city of Dresden. There the prisoners are made to work for their keep. They are kept in a former slaughterhouse. Billy and his fellow POWs survive in an airtight meat locker. They emerge to find a moonscape of destruction. Several days’ later Russian forces capture the city and the war is over. Billy returns to Ilium and finishes optometry school. He gets engaged to the daughter of the founder of the school. His wealthy father-in-law sets him up in the optometry business. Bill y and his wife raise two children and become wealthy. One day in 1967, as he claims on a radio talk show and in a letter to the editor, Billy is kidnapped by two-foot high aliens whose body shape is reminiscent of an upside down toilet plunger. These are the Tralfamadorians. They take him to Tralfamadore where they mate him with the actress Montana Wildhack and keep both earthlings in a zoo. They also explain to him their perception of time, how all of it exists for them simultaneously in the fourth dimension. When someone dies he is simply dead at a particular time. Somewhere else and at a different time he is alive and well. Tralfamadorians prefer to look at the nice moments. When he is returned to earth, Billy initially says nothing. However, after he suffers a head injury in a plane crash and after his wife dies on her way to see him in the hospital, Billy tells the world what he has learned. He goes on a radio talk show and writes a letter to the newspaper. His daughter is at her wit's end and doesn't know what to do with him. Billy makes a tape recording of his account of his death, which will occur in 1976 after Chicago has been hydrogen bombed by the Chinese. He knows exactly how it will happen: a man he knew in the war will hire someone to shoot him. Billy will experience the violet hum of death, then will skip back to some other point in his life. He's see... ...ughterhouse-Five, it seems that both the narrator and Billy Pilgrim are represented as author. The point of view in this book is the author is looking at the events of his own life; past, present, and future and trying to make some sense out of them the same way that Billy is trying to order the events of his own life. The author uses short, simple sentences that manage to say a lot in a few words. The author also uses imagery. He also puts in his book references to historical events. These references increase the understanding and appreciation of Billy's story by suggesting historical and literary parallels to the personal events in his life. The novel does not have smooth transitions from one event to the next. A normal novel has smooth transition. Vonnegut wrote this book without any smooth transition. This novel is very complicated. The topics that are mention are hard to understand. The book was a bit difficult to follow. Slaughter House-Five's character's needs more depth. More description is necessary. There was too much jumping around in time in Billy’s life. I thought that this book was going to be better than it actually was. I wouldn’t recommend this book to a person wh

The Charmer By Budge Wilson :: essays research papers

â€Å"The Charmer† by Budge Wilson is a short story about a Canadian family that finds misfortune and conflict within their lives. Conflict being the predominant theme which directly affects all the participants in the family. The story is written in third person and narrated from the young girl Winifred’s point of view. Budge Wilson uses Zack’s smothered childhood, charming personality and irresponsible behaviour to create emotional conflict between members of the family. Growing up as a happy and popular young man, Zack creates himself a perfect reputation which left room for love and smothering from his mother and two sisters. His mother and sisters love him very much and show this love by being at his every beckoning. Winifred is no exception; the love for Zack is shown by the extraction, â€Å"How be you wash my bike for me, Pose, Love?† I would be halfway to the kitchen for bucket and rags before he stopped speaking. [And] I was Zachary’s willing slave. Slavery in fact, was a vogue in our house.†(Wilson,101). Zack from a very young age is overwhelmed with love and good deeds sent in his direction. He takes advantage of these kind gestures and never really appreciates what was being done for him. This lack of appreciation and constant smothering is noticed by his father at later stages in the story and creates a level of confliction between them throughout the story. His father makes the mistake of not saying anything about his disagreement with the way Zack is treated and allows the conflict to continue. â€Å"Even Dad took a long time to wake up. You wouldn’t think a fourteen – or sixteen-year-old-boy could hoodwink a father†¦ [And] Dad would just leave the room and go out to his work shed and sit and rock and rock in that old chair of his.† (Wilson,103). His father new there was a problem but did not act on it until the situation reached its climax which resulted in Zack leaving home. The problem is allowed to escalate at the time. The father does not play as big of a role in Zack’s life. Due to mothers love for Zack she allows him to get away with a lot of things that most mothers would not. One day she baked a cake for the church bazaar and left a sign warning nobody to eat it. She came home to find a slice gone and realised it was Zack that took the slice.

Diversity in instructional methods toward meaningful learning Essay

Abstract There is diversity in instructional methods that teachers can use to bring about meaningful learning. This paper discusses five of them; namely integrated inquiry approach, 5-model of inquiry, the jig-sawing approach, role playing and WebQuest. These instructional methods are learner centered methods that consider prior knowledge, attitude and skills and promote development of new knowledge and relate them to a variety of contexts. All of them also deal with real-life situations that essentially develop interpersonal relationships, problem-solving skills and content-knowledge among others. The teachers’ tasks are to plan and carry out efficiently the instructional designs to have meaningful learning among diverse learners, instructional methods and learning environments. Diversity in Instructional Methods Toward Meaningful Learning Diversity is an essential ingredient of success of all ventures in life including education. There are different kinds of learners as there are teachers, instructional methods and learning environments; but there is only one goal in education and this is for an effective and meaningful learning. Teachers should set environments for students so they could think critically and independently and relate new knowledge learned with a variety of contexts for meaningful learning. It is the task of the teachers to match the learners, the learning environments, the knowledge to be learned and the instructional methods. Learning meaningfully means that learners relate new knowledge to what they already know. Meaningful learning is non-arbitrary, non-verbatim, substantive deliberate effort to link new knowledge with higher order concepts in cognitive structures. It is a learning related to experiences with events or objects and affective commitment to relate new knowledge with prior learning. The diverse instructional designs towards meaningful learning should identify outcomes, guide the development of instruction content and establish its effectiveness. Efforts to consider meaningful learning in the different stages of instructional design are essential. Gagne et al. (1992) identified the different stages of instructional designs as: defining instructional goals; conducting instructional analysis; identifying entry behaviours and learner characteristics; developing performance objectives; selecting an instructional method; assembling instructional materials and planning formative and summative evaluations. He and his colleagues further cited that current educational theory and researches support the use of instructional methods that make students active learners. Among the diverse instructional methods available to teachers to explore and use, the commonly utilized approach towards construction of new knowledge meaningfully are the problem –based learning and inquiry approach, cooperative learning, and technology strategies. Each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages, but when used effectively can maximize learning. Problem-Based and Inquiry Approach Students in the problem-based and learning inquiry approach engage in meaningful learning through being actively involved in their own learning and reconstructing these based on their experiences. They further participate in active investigation, more of integrating knowledge rather than separating them so that deep understanding develop from acquisition of new facts. In this method, students are given relevant problems by teachers which inquiry must be done. The general steps in this inquiry approach are: identifying the problems, gathering of data, organizing the data in attempt to analyse the problems and analyses of the strategies to use to solve the problems. Integrated Inquiry In the Integrated Inquiry planning process, a model of inquiry approach developed by K. Murdoch, sequences of activities and experiences are developed to build on and challenge student perceptions. These sequences begin with students’ prior knowledge and experiences and move through deliberate processes wherein that knowledge is extended, challenged and refined. Students have their own prior experiences that they bring to their classes and teachers should be aware of how to address this situation. Activities and learning experiences in this model are grouped as: tuning on, finding out, sorting out, going further, making conclusions and taking actions (Murdoch, 1999). Furthermore, planning for assessment is a very important element of planning for Integrated Inquiry. Murdoch (1999) highlights the need for the collection and analysis of information about what and the how students have learned. The assessment in the Integrated Inquiry model is to determine how to improve student learning as these new information help teachers modify their plans of work to suit the needs of the learners. Students’ involvement in planning for assessment as in selecting responses to particular learning experiences and designing demonstrations of understanding are highly encouraged. Therefore, teachers are also tasked to identify and design learning experiences that will provide information for assessment purposes. The strengths of this model are focussed on assessment of learning in context and encouraging a variety of demonstrations of understanding based on the learning experiences that students undertake. Learners that may benefit most from this Integrated Inquiry Approach are those capable of setting goals in their own learning and significantly contribute in determining how assessment could be effectively done. 5-E Model In the book â€Å"Activities for Teaching Science as Inquiry† by Carin, Bass & Contant (2005) many laboratory investigations were cited as inquiry approach to learning. They focused on the 5-E Instructional Model with the five main components identified as Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration and Evaluation. Each of these components is learner-centred. This investigatory method maybe time and resource consuming but it allows the learners to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills experientially. The use of this method is not limited to teaching sciences, which are considered to be not very easy subjects. This experiential learning brings more opportunities for learners to bring forth better understanding and longer retention of knowledge learned. Cooperative Learning Cooperative learning is an instructional method that takes place in a small group of learners of different levels of ability and in environments of responsibility not only for their own understanding of the subject but also for his co-learners. It brings more meaning to learning because it provides shared cognitive sets of information between students, motivating them to learn the materials, ensuring that they construct their own knowledge, providing formative feedback, developing social and group skills necessary for success outside the classroom. Cooperative leaning promotes learning and academic achievement, increases retention and satisfaction with their learning experiences among students, helps develop skills in oral communication, social skills, promotes student self-esteem and fosters mutual responsibility. Although this method helps students learn to be more patient, less critical and more compassionate, some students may find difficulty with this method. Students who work alone find difficulty in sharing answers while aggressive students will tend to take over and brighter students to act superior to the rest. Teachers who will employ cooperative should prepare their students how to work in groups for this method to be successful. Jig Sawing Approach The â€Å"Jig Sawing† Approach is a cooperative learning strategy wherein students becomes an â€Å"expert† in a particular area, then shares his or her learning knowledge with other members of the group that eventually all members of the group learn the concepts. In the Modified Jigsaw, the class is divided into equal expert groups, with each of these groups working on isolated portions of the activity. Once each expert group has completed the tasks, they report their findings as group to the class. Group report allows for greater flexibility in student presentation style and prevents the possibility of unintentionally misrepresentation of information (Beaudrie et al. 1998). This method best suits heterogenous learners across disciplines. It provides opportunities for learners to show various competencies. Moreover, students are more comfortable to exchange ideas with their co-learners because of their dynamic open relationship. Role playing Another instructional method of interest is role playing. It also deals with solving problems but through actions. In role playing, problems are identified, explored through actions and discussed. The students input in their role playing their prior knowledge, values and attitudes. A role-playing strategy seems to work best when there are multiple correct approaches to solving problems. It encourages thinking and creativity to develop and practice new behaviours in non-threatening setting. It provides opportunities for students to explore further their feelings; gain more insights about their attitudes and also enhance their problem solving skills. It also promotes effective interpersonal relations. The learning in these role playing activities are meaningful as they are retained longer and hoped to be of use to the real life of the learners. Terms which are used, often interchangeably with role playing are â€Å"simulation,† â€Å"game,† â€Å"role-play,† â€Å"simulation-game,† â€Å"role-play simulation,† and â€Å"role-playing game†. Role playing dynamically promotes effective interpersonal relationships and social transactions among learners. Technology Supported Approach Technology provides a set of tool for addressing the issues on improving student learning. These issues are of providing more of learners’ time on authentic, challenging tasks with rich contexts with emphasis on multi-disciplinarity; changing of role of teachers to facilitators of knowledge that guide students and learn along with them; students working in an environment of more cooperative relationships that encourages communication and access to real-world examples towards the development of learning communities; and with greater emphasis placed on reflective thinking and productivity with the understanding that students will preform their tasks differently and have different task-relevant skills ( Grabe and Grabe, 2004). WebQuest WebQuest, the model developed by Bernie Dodge, is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. WebQuests is most often a group activity in a library or distance education setting. It may be enhanced by wrapping motivational elements around the basic structure by giving the learners a role to play, simulated personae to interact with via e-mail, and a scenario to work within. They can be designed within a single discipline or they can be interdisciplinary (Dodge, 1997). The WebQuest challenges he learner to be creative in problem-solving. In the world of education, there are so many instructional designs that can be utilized to end up with meaningful learning. No instructional method is better than the other but each one in the hands of a committed and learned teacher can merit students across academic levels and disciplines to bring about meaningful learning. References Beaudrie, B. , Slater,T. F. , Stevenson, S. & Cadit, D. (1998). Teaching astronomy by internet jigsawing. Leading and Learning with Technology Journal, 26. , Retrieved December 13, 2007 from http://www. aem. umn. edu. Carin, A. A, Bass, J. E & Contant T.L. (2005). Activities for Teaching Science As Inquiry. NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Dodge, B. (1997). Some thoughts about WebQuests . Retrieved December 13, 2007 from http://webquest. sdsu. edu/about_webquests. html. Gagne, R. M. , Briggs, L. J. , & Wager, W. W. (1992). Principles of Instructional Design . TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers. Grabe, M. & Grabe C. (2004). Integrating Technology for Meaningful Learning. NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. Murdoch, K. (1998) Classroom Connections: Strategies for Integrated Learning. Melbourne: Eleanor Curtain Publishing.