Thursday, 27 February 2014
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Monday, 24 February 2014
Mentoring
Mentoring
The mentorship program is aimed solely to improve your performance by giving you valuable and necessary guidelines throughout your preparation for JEE. The whole structure of the concept is designed in such a way that you can extract maximum knowledge and tips from your respective mentor who is himself an IIT student.
Having proved themselves in the JEE arena and thus counted among the best minds in the country, your mentors have the expertise and competence to give the right guidance to you. They are presided over by an advisory board consisting only of the top 50 rank-holders with AIR 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13 of IIT-JEE at the helm of affairs.
We are and we will throughout your preparation strive that you get a feeling of closeness and trust from our side. You are special to us in the way that you trusted us, and we will always uphold that fact.
Mentorship at a Glance
Every mentoring session is designed in such a way that the knowledge transfer takes place from your mentor to you in exactly the fashion which you require. Your mentor is obliged to share his knowledge with you regarding every aspect of IIT-JEE preparation. It will be more or less based on the non academic aspects of the preparation like time management, stress management, panic eradication, planning a daily time table, importance of physical exercises, doubts regarding school going, end moment preparation, paper solving techniques, problem preference while giving the paper. These aspects are generally overlooked against the academic orientation which we receive in our coaching institutes. But as per the most of the feedback, these points really count a lot in your preparation. A small lead in these kind of aspects really makes a large difference in your final result.
- We will be providing you a total of 25 or 45 mentoring sessions (depending on your course) in which 20/40 are during the period of JEE preparation and 5 are aimed after JEE which will help you decide regarding your selection of various institutes and branches during IIT counselling.
- Every mentoring session will last for 10 to 12 minutes in which you will have to call your respective mentor at your own.
- There will be a time slot given to you which will be of 1.5 hours (90 minutes) at a suitable time which will in most of the cases be in the evening. This slot will give you enough buffer time for your call as you have to take just 10 minutes from your 90 minutes.
- The mentor will be in stand-by mode for that particular duration. So it is advisable that you call in the prescribed time limit only as the mentor may not be available after that time due to other commitments. And any session which you miss in case you fail to call ur mentor in the time allotted will not be rescheduled.
- You will be provided with the details of your respective mentor which will include his name, AIR in IIT-JEE, department, contact number and email id. Also you will be provided with corresponding details of the executive mentor who is in charge of your mentor. These details will be given to you with the acknowledgement card dispatch. This will also include the allotted time slots for you.
- In case you are not able to reach your mentor due to the call waiting, then please wait for sometime and then call back. But in case you are not able to reach him after substantial efforts or due to technical problems of the network, then you are free to call the executive mentor who will either take the session on his own as a replacement, or if you want to have the session from your mentor only then he will reschedule your session at a mutually agreed upon time for you.
- Please take care of the point that you are not expected to ask specific questions of any subject from your mentor as the whole purpose of the mentoring is to make you strong on the non academic aspects of the JEE preparation. But in case you ask then the mentor has the authority to overlook that question.
- Always take care of the time limit of your mentoring session as the mentor can ask to conclude the session when the time is up.
- Please do not try to take undue advantage of your mentor contact. Never call him other than the prescribd time slots. Also do not share these contacts with your friend as this may lead you into serious consequences. We are here to ensure your satisfaction as we have signed mutual commitments.
- Please try to develop a friendly relation with your mentor rather than force him to be a professional as it would be a greater help to you yourself.
Career Counselling
Career Counselling
The usual process of career counseling involves facilitating greater self-awareness, linking individuals to resources containing labour market information, increasing awareness of options available (including further study/training opportunities, work shadowing/ experience/ volunteer work as stepping stones towards long-term goals), assisting with the decision- making process, and teaching job search strategies. Check lists can be useful in guiding students through this process. A checklist of steps that can be taken may be constructed and provided for students to help them in areas such as self-awareness and opportunity awareness. A check list may include lists of questions or important points regarding areas to consider in career exploration). The various parts of the career process can be reviewed and explained to students.
Self-Awareness
When individuals are considering career options, it is useful to assist them in attaining greater self-awareness by asking about their interests, values and skills in order that they might better understand which jobs are suited to them and which ones are not a good match. Someone who is well-matched to the job is likely to be more motivated and successful in his/her work, and to enjoy the job more than the person who is poorly suited.
Labour Market Information
Individuals need to gather information about the kinds of jobs that are available to them. This kind of information may be found through books or websites, as well as through a labour market information service that tracks current labour market trends and opportunities in the region or country. Along with using books and websites or a labour market information service, students can talk to family members, potential employers, and members of the community to ask questions about work options available.
Decision-Making/ Setting Goals
In making a decision about the kind of work to pursue, it is important to integrate self-awareness with labour market information to arrive at the best fit for the person. It is often useful to engage in a discussion and weigh the costs and benefits of the various choices. Setting both short-term and long-term goals is also a useful activity for students to engage in.
Job Search
Individuals may need assistance with job search strategies such as writing a resume and cover letter, learning interview skills, and knowing where to look for jobs that are advertised as well as those jobs that are not advertised.
The work involves career counsellors and career advisors. Each role is defined to show the various tasks that individuals are involved in to provide career programming for students.
Career Counsellors
Career counsellors should have specialized training in career counselling and career development. They may also have additional training in personal counselling as well as in group counselling. They may facilitate career development groups for students or counsel students individually. Counsellors can assist students in various areas. Some examples include increasing self-awareness, decision-making, goal-setting and establishing a plan of action.
Career Advisers
Career advisers should have specialized training and be able to provide specific information to individuals such as how to put together a resume and cover letter, what to expect in a job interview, how to find a job, and how to use the resources in the career counselling centre. They may conduct workshops about these topics to groups of students as well as to advise students individually.
Mentorship and Role Models
Students may find it helpful to consider mentors or role models. A mentor is generally someone who serves as a guide for a student. For example, if a student is planning to be a medical doctor, he/she might connect with an experienced medical doctor in the community and meet with this person occasionally for consultation regarding the work of being a medical doctor. A student learns from a mentor through the sharing of experience, advice, and learning by example.
Role models are similar to mentors. Role models are people that demonstrate positive qualities and are good examples of individuals that students may desire to imitate. A student may have many role models that reflect the various life roles. For example, one role model might be a good example of a dedicated worker and another person might be a good example of a caring parent. mentorship implies a process more similar to an informal type of apprenticeship.
Commerce
History
Some commentators trace the origins of commerce to the very start of communication in prehistoric times. Apart from traditional self-sufficiency, trading became a principal facility of prehistoric people, who bartered what they had for goods and services from each other. Historian Peter Watson dates the history of long-distance commerce from circa 150,000 years ago.
In historic times, the introduction of currency as a standardized money facilitated a wider exchange of goods and services. Numismatists have collections of these monies, which include coins from some Ancient World large-scale societies, although initial usage involved unmarked lumps of precious metal. The circulation of a standardized currency provides the major disadvantage to commerce of overcoming the “double coincidence of wants” necessary for barter trades to occur. For example, if a man who makes pots for a living needs a new house, he may wish to hire someone to build it for him. But he cannot make an equivalent number of pots to equal this service done for him, because even if the builder could build the house, the builder might not want the pots. Currency solved this problem by allowing a society as a whole to assign values and thus to collect goods and services effectively and to store them for later use, or to split them among several providers.
Indian society during the Vedic period was divided into four basic castes viz. the Brahmins, the Kshatriya, the Vaishyas and the Shudras. In such a set up, commerce was entirely the monopoly of the Vaishyas. The younger generation of Vaishyas was educated about business by their elders. With the passage of time Vaishyas accepted other professions and so did people of other castes, who entered into the commercial domain. This entry of people with different backgrounds into the area of business without relevant knowledge and experience, led to the need of imparting formal education of commerce and business. Formal commerce education was first introduced in India in 1886 at Madras by the Trustees of Pachaiappa’s Charities in the form of a commercial school.
Today commerce includes a complex system of companies that try to maximize their profits by offering products and services to the market (which consists both of individuals and other companies) at the lowest production-cost. There exists a system of International trade, which some argue has gone too far. But in the recent times commerce has taken shape to help in the development of the world economy.
Importance
Commerce has immense importance in all times especially today. It helps in even distribution of goods in all parts of the world. Countries that lack a proper commerce system often get difficulties in maintaining a right standard of living for their nationals. Commerce also serves as a tool to bring people closer from different countries. The transaction of money and commodities serves as a principal means of living for most of the people.
Commerce as a Career
Commerce is one of the three fundamental academic streams, the other two being humanities and science. While pursuing a course in the field of commerce, one acquires the knowledge of business or trade, nature and fluctuations in market, basics of economics, fiscal policies, industrial policies etc. The concept of commerce consists of a wide range of interdisciplinary branches including Accountancy, Business Administration, E-Commerce, Finance, Economics and Marketing. Since the Indian economy is one of the fastest growing economies among the third world countries, the need for talented professionals, who can contribute towards the growth of the economy, is increasing. To serve the purpose, many commerce colleges in India are imparting quality education. A commerce aspirant can pursue course related to the field at any of the colleges and work in organizations that deal with finance and commerce.
Quality Perspective
Effective teaching can be possible only when the teacher is able to promote interest among the students. For promoting the interest among the students a teacher can do various things such as demonstrate interest in the subject and in teaching, introducing the topics in new and interesting ways, point out practical applications and interesting examples, relating the subject matter to current events and students interest or activities, presenting challenging and thought provoking ideas, examining controversial issues, encouraging new ideas from the students and by the use of varied activities, media, and methods. It also helps in providing practical exposure to the students.
The quality of instruction also depends upon the knowledge of teachers. There is a strong positive relationship between teachers’ knowledge of subjects and levels of subject knowledge achieved by their students. Teachers with ample knowledge of subjects are able to plan effectively for the introduction and organization of basic concepts. Knowledgeable teachers are also able to distinguish simple from complex concepts and to vary instructional procedures accordingly. So for teaching any subject effectively, there should be a trained and qualified teacher. Its is more necessary for commerce teaching because the subject is offered at the higher secondary level where the students are more matured, so there has to be a teacher who is masters in commerce at the same time having a degree of education.
Commerce is a subject which is very close to us, so for effective teaching of commerce it is all about listening, questioning, being responsive, and remembering that each student and class is different. For this teacher should adopt Socratic instruction approach. It’s all about eliciting responses and developing the oral communication skills of the quiet students. It’s all about pushing students to excel which is basic requirement of commerce teaching.
For teaching effectively, teacher has to select appropriate instructional method. But we have to keep in mind that no one instructional method is the best for all subject/content. Learning can be enhanced by adopting different approach and method according to the need of the content. Commerce is such a subject where a teacher can use all the methods effectively such as lecture, discussion, role playing, seminar, supervised as well as independent study, project method, field trip, etc. but one of the major concern is that teacher should use these methods in actual class room teaching. Commerce subject is of vocational based so the activity method is quite suitable for commerce. In the wards of Rousseau, “Instead of making the child stick to is books keep him busy in workshop where his hands will work to the profit of his mind.” Thus learning by doing, by activity and experience is the first and the most natured form of learning. One of the arguments against using these methods is that they consume more time but if we use different methods according to the needs of the content then it will help in achieving HOTS at the same time they are not at all time consuming. For example if you field trip as a method for teaching banking it will consume at the most two-three hours to take students to the nearby bank and observe the functions of the employees of the bank and then the teacher can just discuss about the observations of the students in the class room and with this the chapter will be over. This will also help in retention of knowledge for longer period. This is also one of the ways to facilitate learning i.e. relating the curriculum to the student’s lifestyles.
Chemistry
History
Chemistry indeed came of age when Antoine Lavoisier (1743–1794), developed the theory of Conservation of mass in 1783; and the development of the Atomic Theory by John Dalton around 1800. The Law of Conservation of Mass resulted in the reformulation of chemistry based on this lawand the oxygen theory of combustion, which was largely based on the work of Lavoisier. Lavoisier’s fundamental contributions to chemistry were a result of a conscious effort to fit all experiments into the framework of a single theory. He established the consistent use of the chemical balance, used oxygen to overthrow the phlogiston theory, and developed a new system of chemical nomenclature and made contribution to the modern metric system. Lavoisier also worked to translate the archaic and technical language of chemistry into something that could be easily understood by the largely uneducated masses, leading to an increased public interest in chemistry. All these advances in chemistry led to what is usually called the chemical revolution. The contributions of Lavoisier led to what is now called modern chemistry— the chemistry that is studied in educational institutions all over the world. It is because of these and other contributions that Antoine Lavoisier is often celebrated as the “Father of Modern Chemistry”. The later discovery of Friedrich Wöhler that many natural substances, organic compounds, can indeed be synthesized in a chemistry laboratory also helped the modern chemistry to mature from its infancy.
The discovery of the chemical elements has a long history from the days of alchemy and culminating in the discovery of the periodic table of the chemical elements by Dmitri Mendeleev (1834–1907) and later discoveries of some synthetic elements.
Importance
In a nutshell, the importance of chemistry is that it explains the world around you. We’re all chemists. We use chemicals every day and perform chemical reactions without thinking much about them. Chemistry is important because everything you do is chemistry! Even your body is made of chemicals. Chemical reactions occur when you breathe, eat, or just sit there reading. All matter is made of chemicals, so the importance of chemistry is that it’s the study of everything.
Chemistry Explains
- Cooking : Chemistry explains how food changes as you cook it, how it rots, how to preserve food, how your body uses the food you eat, and how ingredients interact to make food.
- Cleaning : Part of the importance of chemistry is it explains how cleaning works. You use chemistry to help decide what cleaner is best for dishes, laundry, yourself, and your home. You use chemistry when you use bleaches and disinfectants and even ordinary soap and water. How do they work? That’s chemistry!
- Medicine : You need to understand basic chemistry so you can understand how vitamins, supplements, and drugs can help or harm you. Part of the importance of chemistry lies in developing and testing new medical treatments and medicines.
- Environmental Issues : Chemistry is at the heart of environmental issues. What makes one chemical a nutrient and another chemical a pollutant? How can you clean up the environment? What processes can produce the things you need without harming the environment?
Chemistry as a Career
Chemists are the people who transform the everyday materials around us into amazing things. Some chemists work on cures for cancer while others monitor the ozone protecting us from the sun. Still others discover new materials to make our homes warmer in the winter, or new textiles to be used in the latest fashions. The knowledge gained through the study of chemistry opens many career pathways. Here are just a few of the careers chosen by chemists. Fields related to chemistry are Agricultural Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Catalysis, Chemical Education, Chemical Engineering, Chemical Information Specialists, Chemical Sales, Chemical Technology, Colloid and Surface Chemistry, Consulting, Consumer Product Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Food and Flavour Chemistry, Forensic Chemistry, Geochemistry, Hazardous Waste Management, Inorganic Chemistry, Materials Science, Medicinal Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Oil and Petroleum, Physical Chemistry, Polymer Chemistry, Pulp and Paper Chemistry, R&D Management, Science Writing, Textile Chemistry, Water Chemistry.
Quality Perspective
Upper Primary and Secondary
- The course is self-contained and broadly covers fundamental concepts of Chemistry.
- Attempt has been made to see discipline of Chemistry does not remain only the science of facts but becomes related to modern applications in the world around us.
- The syllabus provides logical sequencing of the ‘Units’ of the subject matter with proper placement of concepts with their linkages for better understanding.
- Emphasis has been on promoting process – skills, problem solving abilities and applications of concepts of Chemistry useful in real life situation for making learning of Chemistry more relevant, meaningful and interesting.
- An effort has been made on the basis of feedback, to remove repetition besides reducing the content by suitably integrating the different content areas.
Higher Secondary Stage is the most crucial stage of school education because at this stage specialized discipline based, content oriented courses are introduced. Students reach this stage after 10 years of general education and opt for Chemistry with a purpose of mostly for pursuing their career in basic sciences or professional courses like medicines, engineering, technology and studying courses in applied areas of science and technology at tertiary level. Therefore, at this stage, there is a need to provide learners with sufficient conceptual background of Chemistry, which will make them competent to meet the challenges of academic and professional courses after the higher secondary stage.
Salient features of the Course are thus :
- Some background of Chemistry from secondary stage is assumed; however, no specific knowledge of topics in Chemistry is pre-supposed.
- Promote understanding of basic principles in Chemistry while retaining the excitement in Chemistry.
- Develop an interest in students to study Chemistry as discipline.
- Strengthen the concepts developed at the secondary stage and to provide firm foundation for further learning of Chemistry at tertiary level more effectively.
Physics
History
Since antiquity, people have tried to understand the behavior of the natural world. One great mystery was the predictable behavior of celestial objects such as the Sun and the Moon. Several theories were proposed, the majority of which were disproved.
The philosopher Thales (ca. 624–546 BC) first refused to accept various supernatural, religious or mythological explanations for natural phenomena, proclaiming that every event had a natural cause. Early physical theories were largely couched in philosophical terms, and never verified by systematic experimental testing as is popular today. Many of the commonly accepted works of Ptolemy and Aristotle are not always found to match everyday observations. Even so, many ancient philosophers and astronomers gave correct descriptions in atomism and astronomy.
The Middle Ages saw the emergence of an experimental physics taking shape among medieval Muslim physicists, the most famous being Alhazen, followed by modern physics largely taking shape among early modern European physicists, the most famous being Isaac Newton, who built on the works of Galileo Galilei and Johannes Kepler. In the 20th century, the work of Albert Einstein marked a new direction in physics that continues to the present day.
Objectives
It includes study of the most basic objects from which all other things are composed, and therefore physics is sometimes called the “fundamental science”.[8] Physics aims to describe the various phenomenon that occur in nature in terms of simpler phenomena. Thus, physics aims to both connect the things observable to humans to root causes, and then to try to connect these causes together.
For example, the ancient Chinese observed that certain rocks.
(lodestone) were attracted to one another by some invisible force. This effect was later called magnetism, and was first rigorously studied in the 17th century. A little earlier than the Chinese, the ancient Greeks knew of other objects such as amber, that when rubbed with fur would cause a similar invisible attraction between the two. This was also first studied rigorously in the 17th century, and came to be called electricity. Thus, physics had come to understand two observations of nature in terms of some root cause (electricity and magnetism). However, further work in the 19th century revealed that these two forces were just two different aspects of one force – electromagnetism. This process of “unifying” forces continues today, and electromagnetism and the weak nuclear force are now considered to be two aspects of the electroweak interaction. Physics hopes to find an ultimate reason (Theory of Everything) for why nature is as it is (see section Current research below for more information).Physics as a Career
Physics offers challenging, exciting, and productive careers. As a career, physics covers many specialized fields — from acoustics, astronomy, and astrophysics to medical physics, geophysics, and vacuum science.
Physics offers a variety of work activities-lab supervisor, researcher, technician, teacher, manager. Physics opens doors to employment opportunities throughout the world in government, industry, schools, and private organizations.
Quality Perspective
- Emphasis on basic conceptual understanding of content.
- Promoting process-skills, problem-solving abilities and applications of Physics concepts/content, useful in real-life situations for making Physics learning more relevant, meaningful and interesting.
- Emphasis on use of SI Units, Symbols, nomenclature of physical quantities and formulations as per international standards.
- Emphasis on Physics-related technological/industrial aspects to cope up with changing demand of society committed to the use of Physics, technology and informatics.
- Providing logical sequencing of the ‘Units’ of the subject matter and proper placement of concepts with their linkages for better learning and matching the concepts/content with comprehension level of the learners.
- Reducing the curriculum load by eliminating overlapping of concepts/content within the discipline of Physics or with other disciplines; reducing the descriptive portion and providing suitable formulation/depth of treatment appropriate to the comprehension level of learners, making room for contemporary core – topics and emerging curricular areas in Physics.
The higher secondary stage is crucial and challenging stage of school education as it is a transition from general science to discipline-based curriculum. Physics is being offered as an elective subject at the higher secondary stage of school education. At this stage, the students take up Physics, as a discipline, with a purpose of pursuing their future careers in basic sciences or professional courses like medicine, engineering, technology and studying courses in applied areas of science and technology at tertiary level. There is a need to provide the learners with sufficient conceptual background of Physics which would eventually make them competent to meet the challenges of academic and professional courses after the higher secondary stage.
Key points for developing subject matter :
- Strengthen the concepts developed at the secondary stage to provide firm ground work and foundation for further learning Physics at the tertiary level more effectively and learning the relationship with daily-life situations.
- Develop conceptual competence in the learners and make them realize and appreciate the interface of Physics with other disciplines.
- Expose the learners to different processes used in Physics-related industrial and technological applications.
- Develop process-skills and experimental, observational, manipulative, decision-making and investigatory skills in the learners.
- Promote problem-solving abilities and creative thinking to develop interest in the learners in the study of Physics as a discipline.
- Understand the relationship between nature and matter on scientific basis, develop positive scientific attitude, and appreciate the contribution of Physics towards the improvement of quality of life and human welfare.
- Physics teaching-learning at the higher secondary stage enables the learners to comprehend the contemporary knowledge and develop aesthetic sensibilities and process skills. The experimental skills and process-skills developed together with conceptual Physics knowledge prepare the learners for more meaningful learning experiences and contribute to the significant improvement of quality of life. The learners would also appreciate the role and impact of Physics and technology, and their linkages with overall national development.
Biology
History
Although biology in its modern form is a relatively recent development, sciences related to and included within it have been studied since ancient times. Biology began to quickly develop and grow with dramatic improvement of the microscope. It was then that scholars discovered spermatozoa, bacteria, infusoria and the sheer strangeness and diversity of microscopic life. Advances in microscopy also had a profound impact on biological thinking itself. In the early 19th century, a number of biologists pointed to the central importance of the cell. By the 1860s most biologists accepted of what came to be known as cell theory.
However, it was the British naturalist Charles Darwin, combining the bio-geographically approach of Humboldt, the uniformitarian geology of Lyell, Thomas Malthus’s writings on population growth, and his own morphological expertise, that created a more successful evolutionary theory based on natural selection. The discovery of the physical representation of heredity came along with evolutionary principles and population genetics. In the 1940s and early 1950s, experiments pointed to DNA as the component of chromosomes that held genes. The DNA code was cracked by Har Gobind Khorana, Robert W. Holley and Marshall Warren Nirenberg after DNA was understood to contain codons. Finally, the Human Genome Project was launched in 1990 with the goal of mapping the general human genome. This project was essentially completed in 2003, with further analysis still being published.
Importance
Biology is a natural science which studies living organisms and how they interact with each other and their environment. It examines the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of living things. Also, it classifies and describes organisms, their functions, and how species come into existence.
Four unifying principles form the foundation of modern biology: cell theory, evolution, genetics and homeostasis. Biology has its great importance in fields like food, health, environment, industry by producing GM food and other foods to meet the needs, searching means of medicines, cleaning environment, providing goods for the industry.
Biology as a separate science was developed in the nineteenth century as scientists discovered that organisms shared fundamental characteristics. Biology is now a standard subject of instruction at schools and universities around the world, and over a million papers are published annually in a wide array of biology and medicine journals.
Biology as a Career
To pursue Biology as a career you need to graduate from college with a degree in biology, botany, zoology or a related field. With such a degree, you can work as a technician in a biotechnology company, or as a field biologist for the government, or similar career. Or you can go on and get a Ph.D. in biology, which takes about 5 years beyond college. With that education, you can be a professor at a university and do original research and teach classes, or you could direct an entire group doing research in biotechnology.
Quality Perspective
The principal objective at this stage would be to explore the variations amongst the living and developing respect for the diversities, and to appreciate that the most complex biological phenomena are also built on essentially simple processes. Learning Biology should uncover these elementary aspects and illustrate their linkage to more complex phenomena. It was also felt that the contributions of scientists (women scientists in particular) that led to critical and important discoveries in Biology should be highlighted, not merely through a chronological listing, but through brief biographical discussions, in an effort to bring out the processes that led to the discovery of principles and ideas in Biology. These would stimulate critical and creative thinking. Besides, the proposed course at the higher secondary stage provides substantial orientation to the students to professional/career opportunities available in medicine, agriculture, research, teaching and industry.
The syllabus also takes up issues pertaining to environment, health and other ethical issues that arise with any interference of human beings in the natural processes, which have great relevance from the societal point of view. A discussion on these in the prescribed syllabus would help tackle prevalent misconceptions and empower the student to play a rational, responsible and informed role in society.
Biology at higher Secondary level will be more focused and will aim at learning all the important concepts of biology generally asked in various Board exams and competitive exams.
Key points for developing subject matter :
- The meaning of being 'alive'.
- Living organisms show a very large diversity in form and structure ranging from unicellular to very large multicellularwell-differentiated bodies.
- For ease of study, they have been organized into categories and this is called classification.
- Principally, all living organisms can be placed in one or the other of five kingdoms.
- The Binomial system, literally ‘two names’, of classification is followed, where each organism has a Latin generic name with a specific epithet.
- Higher organisation of animals and plants is achieved through assembly of thousands/millions of cells into specialised tissues that in turn form organs and organ systems.
- Organisms show increasing complexity in structure and function as we move from the lower to the higher levels.
- Essential processes of cell division – mitosis and meiosis are similar in animals and plants.
- Proteins, the major macro group besides providing structural support, mediate many physiological functions like catalysis, defence, transport, and sensing.
Computers
History
The first use of the word “Computer” was recorded in 1613, referring to a person who carried out calculations, or computations, and the word continued to be used in that sense until the middle of the 20th century. From the end of the 19th century onwards though, the word began to take on its more familiar meaning, describing a machine that carries out computations.
Importance
Computers have brought up a revolutionary change in the past couple of decades. They are everywhere now and are being used by everyone. They are being used in every field as they provide the facility of storing large data safely which can be easily accessed and managed. They play vital role in our daily life owing to facilities it provide which are beyond our imagination .Their wide application has made the computer education a must.
As computers are being used widely these days, gaining computer education is the need of time. One should be equipped with the basic knowledge of computers, it’s operations and applications. Both basic and practical knowledge completes the basic computer education.
Computers do not act as storage or processing devices only. They are the biggest sources of entertainment and communication as well. One can get connected to another in other part of world in no time with the help of computers. It helps in searching and retrieving vast information over internet also and only computer education can increase the applications of computer across the world.
Those coupled with computer knowledge that may be networking, programming or any other, are always preferred over others and eventually gets the better job opportunities as in modern world no business operates without computers. So computer education is extremely important now as it is an eligibility criterion for getting recruited.
Getting acquainted with computer education makes business easy as various business transactions can be made fast and safe. Also all the business records and documents can be stored in computer thus reducing the need of paper documentation. One can shop being immobile as orders can be placed on internet which saves time and transportation cost.
Various database management soft wares are available in market which manages the large amount of data as per requirement. Computers are not used for business purposes solely; they are also used for gaming and for media purposes all over the globe, thus proving its worth as a one of the main source of entertainment.
Thus we need computer literate people in order to keep pace with time and society. This is the Information Age and computers and computer education are must to rise and to achieve the ladder of success.
Objectives
Computers provide, for the first time in history, a key ingredient that was lacking in all the previous tools that raised high expectations when introduced in the educational system: individualized interactivity. From blackboard to television, the previous tools were pre- sentation tools only. Computers, however, can not only present information with all the audio-visual ex- pressive possibilities of television or film, but also can receive information from the user, and can adapt the presentation to the user needs, preferences or requests. Furthermore, in those schools where the Internet is accessible, the computer is the gateway to information without frontiers, and the catalyst for teacher and student dialogs beyond the walls of a single class or school. Today, when a major effort is being invested in the transformation of the classroom, moving away from frontal, expository, didactic presentations to environments where learners are active discoverers and builders of knowledge, the computer is the tool with the potential to help in reaching these goals the following modes and benefits are summarized briefly.
Computer-Assisted Learning
The student learns by interacting with a program stored in the computer. This program is designed to react to the student’s needs according to predetermined pedagogical criteria. In this case the student conducts a "distant dialog" with the authors of the educational program, who in a well-designed program will have considered the learning difficulties involved in the topics studied, and designed accordingly a set of remedial interventions. Enrichment units should have been included also, to attend to the interests of students who want to study in depth, beyond the curriculum requirements.
Simulation and Exploration
There are topics of study that deal with real systems whose complexity makes them hard to comprehend, operate, or predict. When we want our students to learn how to cope with such a system, the best pedagogical approach is not to provide a set of rules that describe the behavior of the system, but rather to let them explore the behavior, make decisions and predict their consequences or, in short, learn according to their own experience with the system. This is easier said than done, when the real system is a hydroelectric power station, or the economy of a nation, or a patient that requires medical treatment. Fortunately, for many real systems a computer model has been developed, i.e. the computer provides an output describing the behavior of the system, and the changes in this behavior produced by the input of diverse actions.Thus, a student may check the validity of decisions concerning the amount of water allowed to circulate in the hydroelectric power station in conditions of possible drought or flooding, or the effect on unemployment of raising taxes, or the effect of a certain therapy for a patient with given symptoms. All this without creating shortages of electric power for the population, or unemployment, or killing the patient.
Computational Tools
Teachers and students can use computer-based tools, such as text or graphic editors, databases, spreadsheets, or presentation packages, to help in processing information. Two important benefits that come to mind are: a) teachers’ can enrich their presentations with rich graphics and tables, which can be stored in their computer, easily updated, and readily accessible for presentation to the whole class by means of a projection device; b) Students’ papers may be of higher quality, particularly if, instead of just assigning a grade, the teacher requests that each paper be typed using a word processor and delivered on a diskette or through e-mail, thereby allowing the teacher to insert comments and suggestions and return it to the student for corrections until a satisfactory paper has been achieved.
Computer as a Career
Nowadays its requirement of all the major companies no matter what is field of company that all the students they hire should have a decent amount of computer education and should be well versed with its use. So it is necessary to have primary computer skills. If you pursue bachelors or masters in Computer Science, then you are the most valuable person in today’s time.
Career Path 1: Designing and Implementing Software.
This refers to the work of software development which has grown to include aspects of web development, interface design, security issues, mobile computing, and so on. This is the career path that the majority of computer science graduates follow. While a bachelor’s degree is generally sufficient for entry into this kind of career, many software professionals return to school to obtain a terminal master’s degree. (Rarely is a doctorate involved.) Career opportunities occur in a wide variety of settings including large or small software companies, large or small computer services companies, and large organizations of all kinds (industry, government, banking, healthcare, etc.). Degree programs in software engineering also educate students for this career path.
Career Path 2: Devising New Ways to Use Computers.
This refers to innovation in the application of computer technology. A career path in this area can involve advanced graduate work, followed by a position in a research university or industrial research and development laboratory; it can involve entrepreneurial activity such as was evident during the dot-com boom of the 1990s; or it can involve a combination of the two.
Career Path 3: Developing Effective Ways to Solve Computing Problems.
This refers to the application or development of computer science theory and knowledge of algorithms to ensure the best possible solutions for computationally intensive problems. As a practical matter, a career path in the development of new computer science theory typically requires graduate work to the Ph.D. level, followed by a position in a research university or an industrial research and development laboratory.
Career Path 4: Planning and Managing Organizational Technology Infrastructure.
This is the type of work for which the new information technology (IT) programs explicitly aim to educate students. Career paths 2 and 3 are undeniable in the domain of computer science graduates. Career paths 1 and 4 have spawned the new majors in software engineering and information technology, respectively, and information systems graduates often follow Career path 1, too. Computer scientists continue to fill these positions, but programs in software engineering, information technology, and information systems offer alternative paths to these careers.
Quality Perspective
Traditionally, language-learning materials beyond the initial stages have been sourced from literature: prose, fiction and poetry. While there is a trend for inclusion of a wider range of contemporary and authentic texts, accessible and culturally appropriate pieces of literature should play a pivotal role at the secondary stage of education. The English class should not be seen as a place merely to read poems and stories in, but an area of activities to develop the learner’s imagination as a major aim of language study, and to equip the learner with communicative skills to perform various language functions through speech and writing.
The general objectives at this stage are :
- To build greater confidence and proficiency in oral and written communication.
- To develop the ability and knowledge required in order to engage in independent reflection and inquiry.
- To use appropriate English to communicate in various social settings.
- To equip learners with essential language skills to question and to articulate their point of view.
- To build competence in the different registers of English.
- To develop sensitivity to, and appreciation of, other varieties of English, Indian Englishes, and the culture they reflect.
- To enable the learner to access knowledge and information through reference skills ( consulting a dictionary/thesaurus, library, internet etc.).
- To develop curiosity and creativity through extensive reading.
- To facilitate self-learning to enable them to become independent learners.
- To review, organise and edit their own work and work done by the peers.
At the end of this stage learners will be able to do the following :
- Sequence of Tenses
- Modal Auxiliaries (Those not Covered at Upper Primary)
- Non-Finites(Infinitives, Gerunds, Participles)
- Conditional Clauses
- Complex and Compound Sentences
- Phrasal Verbs and Prepositional Phrases
- Cohesive Devices
- Punctuation (Semicolon, Colon, Dash, Hyphen, Parenthesis or use of Brackets and Exclamation Mark)
The methodology will be based on a multi-skill, activity based, learner centred approach. Care would be taken to fulfil the functional (communicative), literary (aesthetic) and cultural (sociological) needs of the learner. In this situation the teacher is the facilitator of learning, s(he) presents language items, contrives situations which motivate the child to use English for the purposes of communication and expression. Aural-oral teaching and testing is an integral feature of the teaching- learning process. The electronic and print media will be used extensively. The evaluation procedure should be continuous and comprehensive. A few suggested activities are:
- Role Playing
- Simulating Real-to-Life Situations
- Dramatizing and Miming
- Problem Solving and Decision Making
- Interpreting Information given in Tabular Form and Schedule
- Using Newspaper Clippings
- Borrowing situations from the world around the learners, from books and from other disciplines
- Using language games, riddles, puzzles and jokes
- Interpreting pictures/sketches/cartoons
- Debating and Discussing
- Narrating and Discussing Stories, Anecdotes, etc
- Reciting Poems
- Working in pairs and groups
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QEA Eduventures 2014
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