Author: chris

Assignment 1: Due Date of Sunday, December 6th.
Posted on: Monday, November 23, 2015
Assignment 1: Financial Research Report:  Due Date of Sunday, December 6th.
Due Week 9 and worth 300 points
Imagine that you are a financial manager researching investments for your client that align with its investment goals. Use the Internet or the Strayer Library to research any U.S. publicly traded company that you may consider as an investment opportunity for your client. (Note: Please ensure that you are able to find enough information about this company in order to complete this assignment. You will create an appendix, in which you will insert related information.)
The assignment covers the following topics:
Rationale for choosing the company for which to invest
Ratio analysis
Stock price analysis
Recommendations
Write a ten to fifteen (10-15) page paper in which you:
Provide a rationale for the U.S. publicly traded company that you selected, indicating the significant factors driving your decision as a financial manager.

NOTE: Please state whether your firm is listed on the NYSE or on NASDAQ, and provide the TICKER SYMBOL for the firm. You may go to Yahoo Finance or to Google Finance to find out the symbol for the firm. Please incorporate chapter 1’s material regarding the financial manager.
Determine the profile of the investor for which this company may be a fit, relative to that potential investor’s investment strategy. Provide support for your rationale.
NOTE: You will want to address risk, capital gains, and dividends in this topic relative to the investment strategy. You may to review the material in chapters 6, 7, and 14.
Select any five (5) financial ratios that you have learned about in the text. Analyze the past three (3) years of the company’s financial data, which you may obtain from the company’s financial statements. Determine the company’s financial health. (Note: Suggested ratios include, but are not limited to, current ratio, quick ratio, earnings per share, and price earnings ratio.)
NOTE: Please regard 112, table 3.1. Please choose 5 financial ratios and show the construction of the ratios for 2014, 2013, and 2012 using the balance sheet information and the income statement information for the firm of choice from Yahoo Finance. Please note that just stating the ratios without showing how they are constructed will not earn full credit on this section.
Based on your financial review, determine the risk level of the company from your investor’s point of view. Indicate key strategies that you may use in order to minimize these perceived risks.
NOTE: Chapter 6’s material relative to risk and the beta of the firm should be addressed. You will also want to address risk mitigation relative to the material in chapter 8 regarding the use of derivatives and financial options.
Provide your recommendations of this stock as an investment opportunity. Support your rationale with resources, such as peer-reviewed articles or material from the Strayer Library.
NOTE: The material from chapters 7, 9, 12 and 14 may be incorporated in to this section. You may also want to provide a graph for the stock over the past years to help support your recommendation.
Use at least five (5) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
Critique financial management strategies that support business operations in various market environments.
Analyze financial statements for key ratios, cash flow positions, and taxation effects.
Review fixed income strategies using time value of money concept, bond valuation methods, and interest rate calculations.
Estimate the risk and return on financial investments.
Apply financial management options to corporate finance.
Determine the cost of capital and how to maximize returns.
Formulate cash flow analysis for capital projects including project risks and returns.
Evaluate how corporate valuation and forecasting affect financial management.
Analyze how capital structure decision-making practices impact financial management.
Use technology and information resources to research issues in financial management.
Write clearly and concisely about financial management using proper writing mechanics.
Course Link/Week 9/Week 9 Graded Items/Week 9 Assignment 1: Financial Research Report – Submit H

As a final exam, I want you to submit the following problems.
From Chapter 6: 6.9, 6.10, 6.11, 6.12, 6.13 and 6.14.
From Chapter 7: 7.4, 7.13 (HINT: easiest way is PROC CORR with PARTIAL option.  Otherwise look up and use either the PCORR1 or PCORR2 option in PROC REG as demonstrated in Real Estate data analysis) , 7.17 (HINT: easiest way is using the STB option in PROC REG, and use the methods displayed in the Real Estate data analysis), 7.25.

These will be due Thursday, December 3 of the last week, in the room of the Thursday section.  Please do not wait until the late hours since the class will most assuredly not last the full time. So bring you complete exam between 6:00 and 6:30 PM.
Of course, you may work in your usual groups for this part of the final. All data sets can be found in the Zip file contained in Students CD for Kutner Textbook folder in Assignments on the Blackboard site.
Please start a new page for every problem. Clearly indicate the members of your group on the front page of your submission and also your section number.
Please submit an intra-group evaluation form as you have been required previously for every exam. This will be due at the same time as the exam.

Here is your chance to either improve your current resume or create a new one as graduation will be here before you know it. You will want to include this in your networking pages/sites, future employer application packages, and for the day of your interview to hand to the interviewer. The idea is to create a concise and effective way to promote who you are as a business professional. All of the hard work you have done in this unit will now pay off.

 

There have been many types of professional resumes created in the past. There is one that can be utilized either as a 1-pager with a list of Actions/Results, or the traditional method that incorporates the previously mentioned list. The idea is to create the Actions/Results Resume for this Assignment. There is a sample Resume in Doc Sharing for your review. Here are some steps for you to follow.

 

Click here to read the steps that you should follow for creating your resume.

 

Learning Activity Checklist:

 

 

In this Assignment on transforming your Personal SWOT analysis into a resume you will engage in developing the following professional competencies:

 

Complete both Part A and Part B below.

Part A

Some questions in Part A require that you access data from Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics. This data is available through the Student Textbook Resources link.

By hand (without using SPSS), compute the mean, median, and mode for the following set of 40 reading scores:
SUMMARY
31 32 43 42
24 34 25 44
23 43 24 36
25 41 23 28
14 21 24 17
25 23 44 21
13 26 23 32
12 26 14 42
14 31 52 12
23 42 32 34
Compute the means for the following set of scores using IBM® SPSS® software. The data sets can be found through the Sage Materials in the Student Textbook Resource Access link, listed under Academic Resources. The following set of scores are saved as Ch. 2 Data Set 3. Copy and paste the output from IBM® SPSS® into this worksheet.

Hospital size (number of beds) Infection rate (per 1,000 admissions)
234 1.7
214 2.4
165 3.1
436 5.6
432 4.9
342 5.3
276 5.6
187 1.2
512 3.3
553 4.1
You are the manager of a fast food store. Part of your job is to report which special is selling best to the boss at the end of each day. Use your knowledge of descriptive statistics and write one paragraph to let the boss know what happened today. Use the following data. Do not use IBM® SPSS® software to compute the statistics needed; rather, do it by hand. Include a copy of your work.

Special number Sold Cost
Huge Burger 20 $2.95
Baby Burger 18 $1.49
Chicken Littles 25 $3.50
Porker Burger 19 $2.95
Yummy Burger 17 $1.99
Coney Dog 20 $1.99
Total specials sold 119

Suppose you are working with a data set that has some different (much larger or much smaller than the rest of the data) scores. What measure of central tendency would you use and why?
For the following set of scores, compute the range, the unbiased and the biased standard deviations, and the variance. Do the exercise by hand.
31, 42, 35, 55, 54, 34, 25, 44, 35

Why is the unbiased estimate greater than the biased estimate?

Use IBM® SPSS® software to compute all the descriptive statistics for the following set of three test scores over the course of a semester. Which test had the highest average score? Which test had the smallest amount of variability?

Test 1 Test 2 Test 3
50 50 49
48 49 47
51 51 51
46 46 55
49 48 55
48 53 45
49 49 47
49 52 45
50 48 46
50 55 53
This practice problem uses the data contained in the file named Ch. 3 Data Set 3. There are two variables in this data set. The data sets can be found through the Sage Materials in the Student Textbook Resource Access link, listed under Academic Resources. Using IBM® SPSS® software, compute all of the measures of variability you can for height and weight. Copy and paste the output from IBM® SPSS® into this worksheet.

Variable Definition
Height Height in inches
Weight Weight in pounds
Review the following frequency distribution. Create a histogram either by hand or by using some other application such as a Microsoft® Excel® document. Copy and paste the histogram into this document

Class interval Frequency
90–100 12
80–89 14
70–79 20
60–69 24
50–59 28
40–49 29
30–39 21
20–29 15
10–19 17
0–9 12
Identify whether these distributions are negatively skewed, positively skewed, or not skewed at all and why.

This talented group of athletes scored very high on the vertical jump task.
On this incredibly crummy test, everyone received the same score.
On the most difficult spelling test of the year, the third graders wept as the scores were delivered.

For each of the following, indicate whether you would use a pie, line, or bar chart, and why.

The proportion of freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors in a particular university – pie
Change in GPA over four semesters
Number of applicants for four different jobs
Reaction time to different stimuli
Number of scores in each of 10 categories

From Salkind (2014). Copyright © 2014 SAGE. All Rights Reserved. Adapted with permission.

Part B

Complete the questions below. Be specific and provide examples when relevant.

Cite any sources consistent with APA guidelines.

Question Answer
Salkind (2014) describes statistics as a set of tools. How do behavioral scientists use those tools?
How would you use descriptive statistics to report the effectiveness of a baseball team? How would you use inferential statistics to report the effectiveness of a baseball team? In this example, what is the sample and what is the population?
What does a measure of central tendency tell us about a data set? Identify the three common measures of central tendency used in descriptive statistics and give an example of each. How do you calculate them?
What is variability in a data set? Identify three measures of variability used in descriptive statistics, explain how to calculate each, and give an example of each.

Prepare a case study analysis on Case 14: “Louis Vuitton in Japan” found in the Cases section of your Pearce and Robinson textbook.

 

Closely follow the Case Study Analysis Template by clicking on the hyperlink. Please utilize this template format for this Assignment. Use titles and subtitles per the format for readability purposes.

 

Focus upon the idea of conducting a SWOT analysis with respect to Louis Vuitton’s external and global environment which includes the remote, industry, and operating environments. Be sure to include the SWOT analysis as shown in the Appendix of your paper (after the References page).

 

Assignment Checklist:

 

 

Landmark Case Presentation

In this module, present your research findings on the landmark cases related to competency to stand trial (CST), criminal responsibility, the right to receive mental health treatment, the right to refuse psychiatric treatment, coercion to mental health treatment, and civil commitment and treatment of sex offenders.

Tasks:

Create a case report for each selected case, including the following headings:

• Title and Citation: Provide the title of the case and in which court the case is involved.
• Type of Action: Describe the type of the case.
• Facts of the Case: Describe the key facts in the case with roles and responsibilities of forensic psychology professionals.
• Contentions of the Parties: Explain the relevant points in the contentions of the parties.
• Issue: Describe the issue from the viewpoint of the psycholegal question at hand.
• Decision: Explain the decision in the case with implications, present and future, for the practice of forensic psychology.
• Reasoning: Explain the reasoning provided by the trial judges or justices to arrive at the decision and dissenting opinions, if any.
• Rule of Law: Describe the rule of law with regard to the practice of forensic psychology.

Click here for a sample case report, which you can also use as a template to write your individual case report.

Write the case reports in not more than a 6-page Microsoft Word document.

All written assignments and responses should follow APA rules for attributing sources.

You may refer to the following links for additional information:

• Landmark Cases of the US Supreme Court
• Supreme Court of the U.S.
• FindLaw
• Google
• US Supreme Court Center

Read three reviews of the movie (you’ll respond to only one). Make sure the reviews are from a real publication whose writers are responsible to an editor (e.g. New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Slate), not fan blogs.

At the beginning of your response, list the titles of the three reviews, the respective reviewers’ names and provide a link to the review’s webpage (If review is only available in print form, staple a copy your ticket stub in step 8).

Highlight the review above you most agree with.
Quote the reviewer’s most persuasive claim based on the elements of cinema. Don’t quote more than one idea.

Comment briefly on why you agree, making at least one descriptive claim to support the reviewer’s interpretation. Be certain to build your commentary on the element of cinema in the selected quotation.
Post the list of reviews, quote, brief comment with descriptive evidence on TurnItIn.

Due Week 8 and worth 180 points

 

Write a five to six (5-6) page paper in which you:

1. Identify and discuss some advantages and disadvantages of using online recruiting.
2. List and define the four (4) recruiting objectives that impact online recruitment. Select one (1) of the objectives you feel may be most important. Provide an explanation.
3. Take a stand on whether or not the attributes of a website (attractiveness, quality, and ease of use) would affect your motivation to apply for a job at a certain company. Justify your position with specific examples from 2 business websites from which you are familiar.
4. Provide two examples of assessment testing and list the pros and cons of each assessment testing.
5. Use at least four (4) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

 

Your assignment must follow these formatting guidelines:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.

 

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Analyze the complexities of HRIS administration.
• Analyze talent management and its importance to the organization.
• Evaluate the use of the Internet to achieve organizational recruiting, training, and development objectives.
• Use technology and information resources to research issues in human resource information systems.
• Write clearly and concisely about human resource information systems using proper writing mechanics.

 

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic/organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Points: 180	Assignment 4: e-Recruiting
Criteria	Unacceptable Below 70% F	Fair 70-79% C	Proficient 80-89% B	Exemplary 90-100% A
1 Identify and discuss some advantages and disadvantages of using online recruiting.   Weight: 20%	Did not submit or incompletely identified and discussed some advantages and disadvantages of using online recruiting.	Partially identified and discussed some advantages and disadvantages of using online recruiting.	Satisfactorily identified and discussed some advantages and disadvantages of using online recruiting.	Thoroughly identified and discussed some advantages and disadvantages of using online recruiting.
2. List and define the four (4) recruiting objectives that impact online recruitment. Select one (1) of the objectives you feel may be most important. Provide an explanation.   Weight: 25%	Did not submit or incompletely listed and defined the four (4) recruiting objectives that impact online recruitment. Select one (1) of the objectives you feel may be most important. Provide an explanation.	Partially listed and defined the four (4) recruiting objectives that impact online recruitment. Select one (1) of the objectives you feel may be most important. Provide an explanation.	Satisfactorily listed and defined the four (4) recruiting objectives that impact online recruitment. Select one (1) of the objectives you feel may be most important. Provide an explanation.	Thoroughly listed and defined the four (4) recruiting objectives that impact online recruitment. Select one (1) of the objectives you feel may be most important. Provide an explanation.
3. Take a stand on whether or not the attributes of a website (attractiveness, quality, and ease of use) would affect your motivation to apply for a job at a certain company. Justify your position with specific examples from 2 business websites from which you are familiar.   Weight: 25%	Did not submit or incompletely took a stand on whether or not the attributes of a website (attractiveness, quality, and ease of use) would affect your motivation to apply for a job at a certain company. Justify your position with specific examples from 2 business websites from which you are familiar.	Partially took a stand on whether or not the attributes of a website (attractiveness, quality, and ease of use) would affect your motivation to apply for a job at a certain company. Justify your position with specific examples from 2 business websites from which you are familiar.	Satisfactorily took a stand on whether or not the attributes of a website (attractiveness, quality, and ease of use) would affect your motivation to apply for a job at a certain company. Justify your position with specific examples from 2 business websites from which you are familiar.	Thoroughly took a stand on whether or not the attributes of a website (attractiveness, quality, and ease of use) would affect your motivation to apply for a job at a certain company. Justify your position with specific examples from 2 business websites from which you are familiar.
4.Provide two examples of assessment testing and list the pros and cons of each assessment testing.   Weight: 15%	Did not submit or incompletely provided two examples of assessment testing and list the pros and cons of each assessment testing.	Partially provided two examples of assessment testing and list the pros and cons of each assessment testing.	Satisfactorily provided two examples of assessment testing and list the pros and cons of each assessment testing.	Thoroughly provided two examples of assessment testing and list the pros and cons of each assessment testing.
5. 4 references Weight: 5%	No references provided	Does not meet the required number of references; some or all references poor quality choices.	Meets number of required references; all references high quality choices.	Exceeds number of required references; all references high quality choices.
6. Clarity, writing mechanics, and formatting requirements Weight: 10%	More than 6 errors present	5-6 errors present	3-4 errors present	0-2 errors present

Assignment 5: e-Compensation

Due Week 10 and worth 200 points

 

Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:

1. Assess the advantages and disadvantages of using a Web-based compensation tool versus a client-server based or stand-alone PC-based system and then give your opinion on which system would provide the most value to an organization’s stakeholders. Include three (3) facts to support your opinion.
2. Justify the use of e-Compensation tools in the job-evaluation process from the perspective of HR, management, and the employee.
3. Evaluate three (3) benefits and three (3) drawbacks of a centralized approach to managing merit pay programs compared to a more decentralized approach.
4. Suggest three (3) types of integrated analytic features that are needed for compensation planning and decision support in e-Compensation systems.
5. Assess the barriers that prevent organizations from realizing the potential of Web-based internal equity tools and propose three (3) approaches to overcome those barriers.
6. Recommend three (3) strategies that HR managers can use to evaluate the quality of market data (surveys, benchmark salary studies, etc.) that they receive from outside sources.
7. Use at least four (4) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.

 

Your assignment must follow these formatting guidelines:

• Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.

 

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

• Analyze the complexities of HRIS administration.

• Evaluate the role of HRIS with performance management, compensation, benefits, and payroll.

• Use technology and information resources to research issues in human resource information systems.
• Write clearly and concisely about human resource information systems using proper writing mechanics.

 

Grading for this assignment will be based on answer quality, logic/organization of the paper, and language and writing skills, using the following rubric.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Points: 200	Assignment 5: e-Compensation
Criteria	Unacceptable Below 70% F	Fair 70-79% C	Proficient 80-89% B	Exemplary 90-100% A
1. Assess the advantages and disadvantages of using a Web-based compensation tool versus a client-server or stand-alone PC-based system and then give your opinion on which system would provide the most value to the organization’s stakeholders. Include three (3) facts to support your opinion. Weight: 15%	Did not submit or incompletely assessed the advantages and disadvantages of using a Web-based compensation tool versus a client-server or stand-along PC-based system. Did not submit or incompletely gave your opinion on which system would provide the most value to the organization’s stakeholders. Did not submit or incompletely included three (3) facts to support your opinion.	Partially assessed the advantages and disadvantages of using a Web-based compensation tool versus a client-server or stand-alone PC-based system. Partially gave your opinion on which system would provide the most value to the organization’s stakeholders. Partially included three (3) facts to support your opinion.	Satisfactorily assessed the advantages and disadvantages of using a Web-based compensation tool versus a client-server or stand-alone PC-based system. Satisfactorily gave your opinion on which system would provide the most value to the organization’s stakeholders. Satisfactorily included three (3) facts to support your opinion.	Thoroughly assessed the advantages and disadvantages of using a Web-based compensation tool versus a client-server or stand-alone PC-based system. Thoroughly gave your opinion on which system would provide the most value to the organization’s stakeholders. Thoroughly included three (3) facts to support your opinion.
2. Justify the use of e-Compensation tools in the job-evaluation process from the perspective of HR, management, and the employee. Weight: 15%	Did not submit or incompletely justified the use of e-Compensation tools in the job- evaluation process from the perspective of HR, management, and the employee.	Partially justified the use of e-Compensation tools in the job-evaluation process from the perspective of HR, management, and the employee.	Satisfactorily justified the use of e-Compensation tools in the job-evaluation process from the perspective of HR, management, and the employee.	Thoroughly justified the use of e-Compensation tools in the job-evaluation process from the perspective of HR, management, and the employee.
3. Evaluate three (3) benefits and three (3) drawbacks of a centralized approach to managing merit pay programs compared to a more decentralized approach. Weight: 15%	Did not submit or incompletely evaluated three (3) benefits and three (3) drawbacks of a centralized approach to managing merit pay programs compared to a more decentralized approach.	Partially evaluated three (3) benefits and three (3) drawbacks of a centralized approach to managing merit pay programs compared to a more decentralized approach.	Satisfactorily evaluated three (3) benefits and three (3) drawbacks of a centralized approach to managing merit pay programs compared to a more decentralized approach.	Thoroughly evaluated three (3) benefits and three (3) drawbacks of a centralized approach to managing merit pay programs compared to a more decentralized approach.
4. Suggest three (3) types of integrated analytical features that are needed for compensation planning and decision support in e-Compensation systems. Weight: 10%	Did not submit or incompletely suggested three (3) types of integrated analytical features that are needed for compensation planning and decision support in e-Compensation systems.	Partially suggested three (3) types of integrated analytical features that are needed for compensation planning and decision support in e-Compensation systems.	Satisfactorily suggested three (3) types of integrated analytical features that are needed for compensation planning and decision support in e-Compensation systems.	Thoroughly suggested three (3) types of integrated analytical features that are needed for compensation planning and decision support in e-Compensation systems.
5. Assess the barriers that prevent organizations from realizing the potential of Web-based internal equity tools and propose three (3) approaches to overcome those barriers. Weight: 15%	Did not submit or incompletely assessed the barriers that prevent organizations from realizing the potential of Web-based internal equity tools. Did not submit or incompletely proposed three (3) approaches to overcome those barriers.	Partially assessed the barriers that prevent organizations from realizing the potential of Web-based internal equity tools. Partially proposed three (3) approaches to overcome those barriers.	Satisfactorily assessed the barriers that prevent organizations from realizing the potential of Web-based internal equity tools. Satisfactorily proposed three (3) approaches to overcome those barriers.	Thoroughly assessed the barriers that prevent organizations from realizing the potential of Web-based internal equity tools. Thoroughly proposed three (3) approaches to overcome those barriers.
6. Recommend three (3) strategies that HR managers can use to evaluate the quality of market data (surveys, benchmark salary studies, etc.) that receive from outside sources. Weight: 15%	Did not submit or incompletely recommended three (3) strategies that HR managers can use to evaluate the quality of market data (surveys, benchmark salary studies) that they receive from outside sources.	Partially recommended three (3) strategies that HR managers can use to evaluate the quality of market data (surveys, benchmark salary studies) that they receive from outside sources.	Satisfactorily recommended three (3) strategies that HR managers can use to evaluate the quality of market data (surveys, benchmark salary studies) that they receive from outside sources.	Thoroughly recommended three (3) approaches that HR managers can use to evaluate the quality of market data (surveys, benchmark salary studies) that they receive from outside sources.
7. 4 references Weight: 5%	No references provided	Does not meet the required number of references; some or all references poor quality choices.	Meets number of required references; all references high quality choices.	Exceeds number of required references; all references high quality choices.
8. Clarity, writing mechanics, and formatting requirements Weight: 10%	More than 6 errors present	5-6 errors present	3-4 errors present	0-2 errors present

In this project you will reverse engineer an option strategy. You will determine what financial instruments to utilize in order to create the option strategy.

 

The client informs you that he wants to buy a stock which costs $10 per share right now. He would like a portfolio payoff diagram as seen below. You are asked to combine this stock, call options (purchase or write), put options (purchase or write) and create the portfolio payoff diagram below (the absolute values of all the slopes are 1 in the diagram):

 

Strategy Payoff Diagram

0                   20            30      40                              60      70               80                  100         S

Specifically, you can use

 

1. The stock (cost of the stock: $10)
2. Call and Put options on the stock with Exercise price: $20 (cost of call: $15, put: $2)
3. Call and Put options on the stock with Exercise price: $30 (cost of call: $10, put: $3)
4. Call and Put options on the stock with Exercise price: $40 (cost of call: $5, put: $4)
5. Call and Put options on the stock with Exercise price: $60 (cost of call: $4, put: $5)
6. Call and Put options on the stock with Exercise price: $70 (cost of call: $3, put: $10)
7. Call and Put options on the stock with Exercise price: $80 (cost of call: $2, put: $12)
8. Call and Put options on the stock with Exercise price: $100 (cost of call: $1, put: $15)

 

Answer the following questions in your report:

 

1. How do you obtain the payoff diagram above? In other words, what portfolio combination leads to the payoff diagram below?

 

2. What is the cost of this portfolio?

 

3. Using Excel, create the payoff diagram of this option strategy using the stock prices on the x-axis and calculating the total payoff at those stock prices (Create the graph by using those stock prices in the first column, and the payoffs in the next column. Use Scatter Plot –> Scatter with Straight lines).

 

EED-465 Charting the Course: Social Studies WebQuest
Benchmark Assignment and Rubric
Targeted Essential Learning
Effective teachers will utilize research-based, best practices to design, plan, implement, and manage instruction that is aligned to elementary social studies academic standards. (InTASC 6, 7, 8)
Assignment Tool Selected
Social Studies WebQuest and Reflection essay.
Specific Performance/Task(s)
InTASC 6(i) The teacher continually seeks appropriate ways to employ technology to support assessment practice both to engage learners more fully and to assess and address learner needs.
InTASC 7(a) The teacher individually and collaboratively selects and creates learning experiences that are appropriate for curriculum goals and content standards, and are relevant to learners.
InTASC 8(a) The teacher uses appropriate strategies and resources to adapt instruction to the needs of individuals and groups of learners.
InTASC 8(g) The teacher engages learners in using a range of learning skills and technology tools to access, interpret, evaluate, and apply information.
Relevancy of Task to Teacher Candidate
By designing a comprehensive social studies WebQuest that focuses on an elementary social studies academic standard, teacher candidates will be able to teach social studies concepts to elementary students.

General Practicum Information
Practicum experience requirements, including the diversity and number of required hours for this course are specified in the College of Education Teacher Preparation Programs Practicum/Field Experience Manual.
Complete the Practicum/Field Experience Observation and Activity Log including the names of the schools and grade levels where the observations took place and document the hours spent in the classroom. Submit the log to Taskstream along with your Benchmark Assignment after you have accumulated all of the required practicum/field experience hours for this course.
Spend time in at least two different elementary social studies classrooms. Let your mentors know that you are working on developing your lesson planning skills. Throughout the practicum, observe and interview your mentors as to best practices for teaching social studies. Two observations must be in different grade levels and at least one observation must take place in a Title 1 school.
Assessment: Student Prompts/Teacher Directions
(Benchmark Assignment) Charting the Course: Social Studies WebQuest
Choose a specific grade level and strand from the following social studies strands: American History, World History, Civics/Government, Geography, and Economics. Within your selected strand, you will also need to select one particular concept. (To assist, visit the Arizona Department of Education’s Social Studies Standards page at http://www.azed.gov/standards-practices/social-studies-standard/.)
Create an essential question that your WebQuest will address. Be sure to include the essential question on the introduction page of your WebQuest. Use the “Essential Questions” resource for details on how to create an essential question http://iss.gstboces.org/ctice/trainings/webquesting/handouts/EssentialQuestions.pdf.
Review Zunal.com to construct your WebQuest.  (For examples of completed WebQuests, visit the WebQuest home page at  http://webquest.org/index.php.)
Design a five-day WebQuest that could be used to teach and assess one particular concept from the social studies strand you selected. Account for the following lesson plan components:
Required resources and materials.
Strategies for integrating language arts, where applicable.
Strategies for teaching applicable social studies vocabulary.
Hands-on learning experiences.
A minimum of seven pages designed within the WebQuest website.
Differentiated instruction.
Write a reflection of 1,000-1,250-words on why you think the WebQuest you have devised represents best practices for teaching social studies and how your mentor teacher’s practices influenced your design.
APA format is not required, but solid academic writing is expected.
Provide access for your instructor to view your WebQuest by submitting your WebQuest URL to your instructor.
Submit the assignment to the instructor by the end of Topic 7.
Additionally, submit the assignment in Taskstream along with your completed Practicum/Field Experience Observation and Activity Log after you have accumulated all of the required practicum/field experience hours for this course. Directions for submitting to Taskstream can be found on the College of Education’s page in the Student Success Center.
Scoring Guide
Charting the Course: Social Studies WebQuest (Benchmark Assignment)

Criteria 1: Unsatisfactory 2: Less than Satisfactory 3: Satisfactory 4: Good 5: Excellent
WebQuest 90%
Frames the Essential Question
10% The focus of the question is unclear or missing. The question may address the knowledge level, but has one obvious answer. The question spans the lower level of Bloom’s Taxonomy (Knowledge, Comprehension); does not attempt to have students make judgments or evaluations. The essential question attempts to scaffold learning, the question reaches at least the application level of Bloom’s Taxonomy; attempts to have students make judgments and/or evaluations. The essential question builds on prior knowledge and scaffolds learning; asks students to make judgments and evaluations. The essential question reaches the highest levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy; the learner is encouraged to invent his or her solution; the learner is encouraged to wonder.
Connects WebQuest to Academic Standards and Objectives
20% WebQuest does not connect the topic to the standards and/or objectives. WebQuest lists multiple items from standards that are peripherally connected to the topic; standards listed may not be appropriate to the WebQuest. Standards are related to the WebQuest and an attempt is made to connect to other disciplines. WebQuest is interdisciplinary with targeted standards; standards are directly correlated to the tasks. Tasks address different learning modalities. WebQuest is interdisciplinary with clearly targeted standards, and the standards scaffold to enhance learning tasks.
Creates Engaging Scenario and Tasks
(Vocabulary activities, learning experiences, assignment activities, and differentiation)
20% The scenario is one dimensional; the tasks require a student to research at the knowledge level; directions are missing. The scenario may be interesting, but the tasks are not clearly defined and cause confusion; the tasks require a student to research at the comprehension level. The scenario is interesting and the tasks are defined. Adequate background information is supplied. The scenario and tasks are engaging for the students; the procedures are clearly outlined. The scenario hooks the students, and the tasks provide sufficient background information to excite and maintain the interest of students.
Includes Relevant Materials and Resources 10% Links to sites and materials are not directly connected to the assignment; uses one source.
Attempts to connect materials and sources to assignment, but some are irrelevant; does not provide adequate information for students to analyze or interpret. Information includes mostly relevant materials and sources, although the sources may be limited; sites are developmentally appropriate. All information is relevant; puts meaning of the problem in personal, social, or community perspectives. Information is relevant and differentiated; all sources meet the developmental needs of a diverse population and encourage reflection.
Product Connected to Assignment/Essential Question
10% Product does not attempt or fails to connect to the question. Product is not clearly connected to the question and does not encourage students to reflect and evaluate contrasting points of view. The product is connected to the question; the product may be similar to other products that have been produced. Attempts to reflect and evaluate contrasting points of view. The description of the product is clear and coherent. Clearly reflects and evaluates contrasting points of view. The description of the product is clearly and coherently presented; the product is unique to other products that have been produced; product clearly stretches the student’s thinking.
Demonstrates Creativity
10% Student copies and pastes from Internet without discrimination; product demonstrates no connection to the question; product does not show reflection. Product demonstrates some connection to the question, but does not ask students to draw conclusions. Student demonstrates one clear approach to understanding; attempts to show reflection. Student generates multiple approaches of looking at problem; product. Student is challenged to demonstrate different and unique approaches; product shows originality.
Exhibits Comprehensiveness
10% Overall website design uses less than four web pages; subject matter is not covered. Overall website design has at least four web pages developed but subject matter has missing components. Overall website design incorporates a minimum of five web pages; subject matter covers most of the scope and sequence. Website design has at least six pages; subject matter covers scope and sequence. Website design has at least seven pages; website serves as a model and subject matter is comprehensive in scope and sequence.
Reflection 10%
Content
5% Best practice reflection is missing. A best practice reflection is evident, but there is no connection to mentor teacher’s practice. The reflection indicates how the WebQuest represents best practices for teaching social studies, but it is sketchy. Addresses how the mentor teacher’s practice influenced lesson design. Reflections plausibly demonstrate how the WebQuest represents best practices for teaching social studies. Justifications indicate the student’s extensive understanding of best practices for teaching social studies.

Mechanics of Writing (includes spelling, punctuation, grammar)
5%

Surface errors are pervasive enough that they impede communication of meaning.

Frequent and repetitive mechanical errors distract the reader.
Some mechanical errors or typos are present, but are not overly distracting to the reader.
Prose is largely free of mechanical errors, although a few may be present.
Writer is clearly in control of standard, written American English.
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