UNIT ONE

The Concept of Learning and Curriculum Planning

1.1 The Concept of Learning
Farrant (1980) defines learning as a process by which one acquires knowledge, skills, and
attitudes that cannot be attributed to inherited behaviour patterns or physical growth. Learning is
considered as an activity of acquiring ideas, values, skills, and competencies. Learning has to do
with an individual’s ability to show, for example, new intellectual ability, acquired attitudes and
values, and motor skills due to mental processes and reaction to environmental conditions. Cox
and Ewan (1988) also define learning as a process of acquiring new habits, knowledge, and
skills, which enable students to do something they could not do before.

Learning is also conceived of as a change in behaviour or disposition that persists over some
time. Gagne (1985) defines learning as a change in human disposition or capacity that persists
over a period of time. It needs to be noted that a change in behaviour, which results from
maturation, drug, or fatigue cannot be described as learning as they do only provide a
temporal change. Shuell (2004) also defines learning as an enduring change in behaviours, or in
the capacity to behave in a certain way, resulting from practice or other forms of experience. The
view that learning results from experience is corroborated in the definition given by Slavin
(2011) as learning being a change in an individual that results from experience. A change in
behaviour should last before it can be described as learning. After a learning process, if one can
do what he/she could not do or refrain from certain behaviour or put up a new behaviour, then it
is deemed that learning has taken place. Three features can be identified with learning;

The capability of doing something distinct and different from what people used to do
previously.
An enduring element that is durable for a time
It has the element of practice and feedback (Shunck, 2000 as cited in Ntim, 2010)
Learning is a behavioral change is an outcome of education and training. It is through education
and training that learners acquire knowledge, skills, and attitudes, which demonstrate that
learning has taken place. It is realized from the foregoing that learning is considered as a process
and a product. There could be self-directed learning or learning directed by others. In self-
directed learning, learners acquire some knowledge and skills through their efforts. This takes
place through experiences, observation, and perception. Human beings learn new and different
things throughout their lifetime. Learning also does not take place in only schools; it starts from
birth till death, from cradle to grave. People also learn through the direction of tutors and
institutions, from crèche through to university.

Other Definitions of Learning

Learning is being active and purposeful. Proper learning takes place where the learner is
actively engaged in the learning process. So active participation of pupils is essential in the
learning process. Moreover, the more intense the purpose of the learner, the more rapid learning
will take place.

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Learning is intelligent and creative. Learning involves an intelligent interpretation of the
situation, and selecting an appropriate response. To do so involves intelligent and creative
thinking.

Learning affects the conduct of learners. Learning affects the individual to adjust himself to
the environment. This brought about through some sort of change modification of one’s
behaviour. Thus, the behaviour or conduct of the individual undergoes change on accounts of
learning.
Learning is the product of the environment. It essentially is adaptation and adjustment to the
environment which has a great influence upon learning. Learning thus, cannot be divorced from
the environment.

General characteristics of learning

We can now deduce some general characteristics of learning as follows:
Learning is adjustment-the individual must adjust to his environment; he/she must learn
to adjust to the changes that take place around him.
Learning is growth-the child must grow through learning. An immature child is
developed into a mature person through the process of learning.
Learning is organising experience-learning is not like adding one experience to the
other; it is, rather, organizing the new experience with the old.
Differentiated Learning
Differentiating instruction refers to teaching the same material to all students using a variety of
instructional strategies, or it may require the teacher to deliver lessons at varying levels of
difficulty based on the ability of each student. It also means instruction factoring students’
individual learning styles and levels of readiness first before designing a lesson plan. Teachers
begin by creating a safe and nurturing environment where students feel accepted, safe, and
willing to take personal and academic risks. Teachers designate quiet work areas, set clear
guidelines for independent work, work with students to identify performance criteria, help
students to discover their unique learning styles, and provide materials that reflect students’
personal and academic backgrounds. Because differentiated instruction generates active students’
involvement teachers need to be able to tolerate some movement and noise, particularly with
learning centres. Teachers become active monitoring and aware of what is going on in the
classroom (withiness). Once a nurturing learning environment has been established teachers
maximize students learning achievement by designing lessons that meet the students where they
are in the learning process and move them along as quickly and as far as possible in the context
of a mixed-ability classroom. Research on the effectiveness of differentiation shows this method
benefits a wide range of students, from those with learning disabilities to those who are
considered to be of high ability
Factor to consider when practice differentiation in the classroom may include;

• Design lessons based on students’ learning styles.

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• Group students by shared interest, topic, or ability for assignments.
• Assess students’ learning using formative assessment.
• Manage the classroom to create a safe and supportive environment.
• Continually assess and adjust lesson content to meet students’ needs.
Ways to differentiate instruction
Teachers can differentiate instruction through four ways: 1) content, 2) process, 3) product, and
4) learning environment.
1. Content
Fundamentally, lesson content should cover the standards of learning set by the school or state
educational standards. But some students in a class may be completely unfamiliar with the
concepts in a lesson, some students may have partial mastery, and some students may already be
familiar with the content before the lesson begins.
What could be done is to differentiate the content by designing activities for groups of students
that cover various levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy (a classification of levels of intellectual behavior
going from lower-order thinking skills to higher-order thinking skills). The six levels are:
remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating. Students who are
unfamiliar with a lesson could be required to complete tasks on the lower levels: remembering
and understanding. Students with some mastery could be asked to apply and analyze the content,
and students who have high levels of mastery could be asked to complete tasks in the areas of
evaluating and creating.
Examples of differentiating activities:

• Match vocabulary words to definitions.

• Read a passage of text and answer related questions.
• Think of a situation that happened to a character in the story and a different outcome.
• Differentiate fact from opinion in the story.
• Identify an author’s position and provide evidence to support this viewpoint.
• Create a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the lesson.
2. Process
Each student has a preferred learning style, and successful differentiation includes delivering the
material to each style: visual, auditory, and kinesthetic, and through words. This process-related
method also addresses the fact that not all students require the same amount of support from the
teacher, and students could choose to work in pairs, small groups, or individually. And while
students may benefit from one-on-one interaction with you or the classroom aide, others may be

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able to progress by themselves. Teachers can enhance student learning by offering support based
on individual needs.
Examples of differentiating the process:

• Provide textbooks for visual and word learners.

• Allow auditory learners to listen to audiobooks.
• Allow kinesthetic learners to complete an interactive assignment online.
3. Product
The product is what the student creates at the end of the lesson to demonstrate the mastery of the
content. This can be in the form of tests, projects, reports, or other activities. You could assign
students to complete activities that show mastery of an educational concept in a way the student
prefers, based on learning style.

Examples of differentiating the end product:

• Read and write learners write a book report.

• Visual learners create a graphic organizer of the story.
• Auditory learners give an oral report.
• Kinesthetic learners build a diorama illustrating the story.
4. Learning environment
The conditions for optimal learning include both physical and psychological elements. A flexible
classroom layout is key to incorporating various types of furniture and arrangements to support
both individual and group work. Psychologically speaking, teachers should use classroom
management techniques that support a safe and supportive learning environment.

Examples of differentiating the environment:

• Break some students into reading groups to discuss the assignment.

• Allow students to read individually if preferred.
• Create quiet spaces where there are no distractions.
Advantages of differentiated instruction

• Research shows differentiated instruction is effective for high-ability students as well as

students with mild to severe disabilities.

• When students are given more options on how they can learn the material, they take on
more responsibility for their learning.

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• Students appear to be more engaged in learning, and there are reportedly fewer discipline
problems in classrooms where teachers provide differentiated lessons.

Disadvantages of differentiated instruction

• Differentiated instruction requires more work during lesson planning, and many teachers
struggle to find the extra time in their schedule.

• The learning curve can be steep and some schools lack professional development
resources.

• Critics argue there isn’t enough research to support the benefits of differentiated
instruction outweighing the added prep time.

1.2 Learning Styles and Learning Strategies

Learning Styles

Learning styles refer to the difference in learners’ ability to accumulate as well as assimilate
information. They are learners’ preferred ways of perceiving and processing information (Kolb,
1984). Learners have different learning styles and learn better through different means. The
methods that allow learners to gather and use knowledge in a specific manner differ significantly.
Educators and facilitators need to recognize and appreciate the fact that the learners do exhibit
different learning styles in the classroom and during training programmes, and have to adapt and
adopt appropriate approaches to teaching that would bring about good results. They need to
understand and appreciate that some learners are good at listening; some are good at watching
while some others are good at manipulating. If educators understand their students learning
styles, it helps them vary their teaching styles and approaches (using lecture, discussion,
powerpoint presentation, charts and graphics, audio, video, audio-visual). Using varied
approaches to teaching a topic helps to cater for the individual needs of differentiated instruction’
(different groups in the same class learning or performing different activities).

Types of Learning Styles Visual learners

The concept of “visual learners” refers to people who learn through what they can see. Visual
learners learn well through observing and watching. They can describe things well when they
vividly see them. They associate information with images and techniques. Such learners like
materials such as diagrams, sketches, projectors, flipcharts, graphs, maps, pictures, and photos.
They can picture in their minds things, places, events, and personalities and vividly give of them
more efficiently. Visual learners are also good writers and tend to perform creditably on written
exercises. Visual learners like sitting in front of the class to catch a glimpse of and better views of
instructions that are delivered. It is prudent for teachers to ensure that such can see words written
on chalkboards, use pictures and illustrations when describing things, an assignment on a board,
and use overhead transparencies to satisfy visual learners in the class.

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Also, teachers need to use visual materials in most lessons to increase the drive factor and
concentration in class and eventually assist visual learners to learn effectively. Besides, teachers
can help visual learners to learn by doing pictorial demonstrations and presenting some
information to them with videos.

Auditory learners

This describes learners who learn best through listening or hearing. Auditory learners absorb
information more efficiently through sounds, music, and discussions, and they are good listeners.
They tend to better understand and remember things that they hear. Auditory learners can recall
information well after hearing it rather than only reading it. They also tend to do better on oral
presentations, reports, and theoretical aspects of subjects.

Auditory learners enjoy debates, participate in discussions, interviewing, and prefer listening to
news and presentation. Auditory learners enjoy oral reading choral reading and listening to
recorded books. They are good at repeated reading. So in this era of e-materials, books on tapes
or audio-books are useful for them to listen frequently to and learn the contents.

At the higher educational level, such learners record lectures and discussions and play them later
to learn the contents. To help auditory learners to learn well, educators need to repeat words and
concepts aloud, organize debates encourage oral presentations, and allow students to record
lectures and discussions. Again, educators have to speak clearly, consciously use voice and
languages, and ask questions clearly to help auditory learners to benefit from instructions;
educators also need to employ teaching methods that engage students in debates, discussions,
presentations, and so on to benefit auditory learners in their class.

Kinesthetic or Tactile learners.

These are learners who learn better through doing, touching, moving, and working. Tactile has to
do with the sense of touch and kinesthetic concerns the sense of movement. Tactile learners like
hands-on activities in the laboratory, role play, dramatization, making models, manipulating
objects, drawing, discovering ideas, and embarking on field trips and excursions. They prefer
performing tasks and exploring and conducting experiments. Kinesthetic learners do not like
sitting long for instructions and they want to take part in physical activities. They take delight in
touching, feeling, and personally experiencing learning materials during instructions. Educators
need to provide learners with hands-on activities, assign them projects to perform, allow breaks
during instructions to allow movement, use visual aids and objects during instructions for
learners and use them to practice, organize role-plays dramatizations, field trips, and internships
or attachments for learners to have practical activities of learning tasks. There should also be a lot
of practical exercises, engagement, demonstration, and group activities.

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Learning Strategies
Broadly speaking, learning styles can be defined as general approaches to language learning,
while learning strategies are specific ways learners choose to cope with language tasks in
particular contexts.
Learning strategies are how students learn, remember information, and study for tests. They refer
to the actions and behaviors (The strategies) that depend greatly on their learning styles.
Many students use learning strategies automatically without any awareness of them. The role of
teachers here is to:

• Recognize their students’ learning strategies,

• Make them explicit to students, bring them to their attention, and talk about them.
• Encourage students to use them in the classroom
• Make them more effective to the learning process,
• Base teaching process and techniques on these strategies.
• Students use the following learning strategies most often when learning a language:
1. Cognitive Strategies
When they manipulate the language material using indirect ways, e.g. through reasoning,
analysis, note-taking, and synthesizing.
2. Metacognitive Strategies
When they identify preferences and the need for planning, monitoring mistakes, and evaluating
task success.
3. Memory-Related Strategies
When they link one item or concept with another but do not necessarily involve deep
understanding, e.g. using acronyms, sound similarities, images, keywords.
4. Compensatory Strategies
When they make up for missing knowledge using gestures, miming, or guessing the meaning
from the context.
5. Affective Strategies
When they manage their emotions by identifying their mood and anxiety level, talking about
feelings, rewarding themselves, and using deep breathing or positive self-talk.
6. Social Strategies

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When they learn via interaction with others and understand the target culture, e.g. asking
questions, asking for clarification, asking for conversation help, talking with a native-speaking
partner, and exploring cultural and social norms.

1.3 The concept, nature, and relationship between the curriculum and syllabus;
Definition of Curriculum

The word ‘curriculum’ has been derived from the Latin word ‘currere’, which means a
racecourse (Elam, 2020).

The concept of curriculum is as dynamic as the changes that occur in society. In its narrow sense,
the curriculum is viewed merely as a listing of subjects to be taught in school. Broadly speaking,
curriculum is defined as the total learning experiences of the individual. This definition is
anchored on John Dewey’s definition of experience and education. He believed that reflective
thinking is a means that unifies curricular elements. Thought is not derived from action but tested
by application.

Robert M. Hutchins views curriculum as “permanent studies” where the rule of grammar,
reading, rhetoric, and logic, and mathematics for basic education are emphasized.

Caswell and Campbell viewed curriculum as “all experiences children have under the guidance
of teachers”. This definition is shared by Smith, Stanley, and Shores when they defined
“curriculum as a sequence of potential experiences set up in the schools to discipline children
and youth in group ways of thinking and acting”.

Marsh and Willis on the other hand view curriculum as all the “experiences in the classroom
which are planned and enacted by the teacher, and also learned by the students.

Definition of Syllabus

The syllabus is defined as the documents that consist of topics or portions covered in a particular
subject. It is determined by the examination board and created by the professors. The professors
are responsible for the quality of the course. It is made available to the students by the teachers,
either in hard copy or electronic form to bring their attention to the subject and take their study
seriously.

A syllabus is considered as a guide to the in charge as well as to the students. It helps the students
to know about the subject in detail, why it is a part of their course of study, what are the
expectations from students, consequences of failure, etc. It contains general rules, policies,
instructions, topics covered, assignments, projects, test dates, and so on.

Nature of Curriculum and Relationship between the Curriculum and Syllabus

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When it comes to education, the two concepts which are commonly misconstrued are syllabus
and curriculum. Syllabus connotes the subjects as well as the topics covered in the course of
study. It is also considered as a guide to the teachers as well as to the students. It helps the
students to know about the subject in detail, why it is a part of their course of study, what are the
expectations from students, consequences of failure, etc. It contains general rules, policies,
instructions, topics covered, assignments, projects, test dates, and so on.

On the other hand, curriculum implies the chapters and academic content taught in school or
college. It alludes to the knowledge, skills, and competencies students should learn during the
study. In a theoretical sense, and curriculum also refers to what is offered by the school or
college. However, practically it has a wider scope that covers the knowledge, attitude, behaviour,
manner, performance, and skills that are imparted or inculcated in a student. It contains the
teaching methods, lessons, assignments, physical and mental exercises, activities, projects, study
material, tutorials, presentations, assessments, test series, learning objectives, and so on. The
curriculum is well planned, guided, and designed by the government or the educational
institution. It is aimed at both the physical and mental development of a student. It is the overall
learning experience that a student goes through during the particular course of study.

The fundamental difference between syllabus and curriculum is that the former is focused on a
particular subject. Unlike, the latter, which is related to the all-round development of a student.
Similarly, other differences between these two are discussed below:

Differences between Curriculum and Syllabus

The basic differences between syllabus and curriculum are explained in the point given below:

The syllabus is described as the summary of the topics covered or units to be taught in a
particular subject. Curriculum refers to the overall content, taught in an educational system or a
course.

Syllabus varies from teacher to teacher while the curriculum is the same for all teachers.

The term syllabus is a Greek origin, whereas the term curriculum is a Latin origin.

The curriculum has a wider scope than the syllabus.

The syllabus is provided to the students by the teachers so that they can take an interest in the
subject. On the other hand, normally the curriculum is not made available to the students unless
specifically asked for.

Syllabus is descriptive, but the curriculum is prescriptive.

Syllabus is set for a particular subject. Unlike curriculum, this covers a particular course of study
or a program.

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Syllabus is prepared by teachers. Conversely, a curriculum is decided by the government or the
school or college administration.

The duration of a syllabus is for a year only, but the curriculum lasts till the completion of the
course.

Curriculum terminologies; Basic components of the curriculum and the syllabus

Basic components of the curriculum A

curriculum has five major components:

A framework of assumptions about the learner and the society such as learners’ capacity and
ability, aptitudes, and potential for learning, motivation, needs, interests, and values as well as
society’s orientation to nurturing or using the individual gainfully.

Aims and objectives (i.e., why education should be provided and towards what direction).

Content or subject-matter with a selection of what is to be taught and learned, the scope of the
subject matter, and its sequence.

Delivery methodologies—teaching strategies and learning activities that will be used to deliver
the content, including problems to solve, case studies, scenarios, hands-on labs, two-way
exchanges of information such as question and answer with an instructor, small group activities,
discussions, and real-life experience

Evaluation methods: A strategy for continually revising and updating the curriculum based on
how well it is meeting the instructional purposes and needs of the target audience.

Basic components of the syllabus

A syllabus has seven basic components which are;

Description
A brief introduction to the course (e.g. theme, scope, and purpose)

Learning Goals
List as specifically as possible what particular skills or knowledge you expect students to acquire
by the end of the course. In general, developing 3 - 5 learning goals will be appropriate for most
courses. Think about the kinds of evidence you will need to assess the students' achievement of
these learning goals. The learning goals should drive your assessments and grading policies. That
is, your assessment and grading scheme should measure the achievement of the learning goals.

Content
Please outline the course schedule and content in detail, including the topic(s), theme(s), and
keywords of each lesson.

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Listing the assignments, reports, and exams in line with the course schedule will make it easier
for students to design their study plans. Please include information on the feedback method as
well.

A description of the lesson format will also be helpful for students' academic planning (e.g.,
lecture, discussion, debate, group work, presentation, or experiment/fieldwork).

If your course involves team teaching, please specify the teacher's name in each lesson in the
schedule.

Language of instruction
For students' academic planning, they need to know the language(s) of instruction in the course.
Please indicate the language(s) of instruction for different components of the course, following
the example below.

Grading Policy

Many students are concerned about the grading policy of their courses. Therefore, please provide
clear and specific details on not only the types of assessment (e.g. exam, report, or quiz) but also
the criteria used to evaluate each component as well as the weighting of grades.
Note that ICU encourages multiple grading components in each course and not a single final
examination or essay. First, list all the course requirements, weights, and due dates. As you
decide the weighting for the different requirements, keep in mind that it will have a significant
impact on students' effort distribution of time.

Expected Study outside Class

Here, describe materials or study methods that support learning outside the classroom and its
required time.

The term of classes for one semester consists of approximately 12 weeks. One class hour consists
of 60 minutes. 1 week of examination period is not included in the term of classes.

Generally, class hours of 70 minutes x 10 weeks amount to 1 credit unit.

It is assumed that students will spend two class hours studying outside the classroom
(preparation, review, and homework) for each class hour in class.

For laboratory and exercise-based courses that do not require outside preparation, 2 class hours
(140 minutes) or 3 class hours (210 minutes) per week are worth 1 credit unit.

References
Here, indicate the required or main text(s) for the course and list any supplementary or additional
references separately (e.g. other textbooks or journal art

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UNIT TWO

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING BASIC COMPONENTS OF THE CURRICULUM AND

SYLLABUS

Taxonomies of educational objectives;

Taxonomies are hierarchical schemes for classifying learning objectives into various levels of
complexity. There are three main domains of educational objectives. These are (1) cognitive, (2)
affective, (3) psychomotor
Cognitive domain objectives produce outcomes that focus on knowledge and abilities requiring
memory, thinking, and reasoning processes. Affective domain objectives produce outcomes that
focus on feelings, interests, attitudes, dispositions, and emotional states. Psychomotor domain
objectives produce outcomes that focus on motor skills and perceptual processes.
The Cognitive domain: This domain was developed by Benjamin Bloom in 1956, hence it is
known as Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. The taxonomy classifies educational
objectives into 6 main headings.
(i) Knowledge. This involves the recall of specific facts, methods, and processes. They include
those objectives, which deal with the recall or recognition of knowledge and the development of
intellectual abilities and skills. It is often defined as the remembering of previously learned
material. Illustrative verbs include; define, identify, label, etc.
ii. Comprehension. It is the ability to grasp the meaning of the material. It is shown by
translating material from one form to another, or by interpreting material (explaining or
summarizing). Illustrative verbs include convert, explain, summarize
iii. Application. This refers to the ability to use learned material in new and concrete
situations. This includes the application of such things as rules, methods, concepts, principle set.
Illustrative verbs include change, compute, and prepare.
iv. Analysis. This is the ability to breakdown material into its parts so that its organizational
structure may be understood. This includes the identification of parts, analysis of the
relationships between parts or sets. Illustrative verbs include breakdown, differentiate, illustrate
v.Synthesis. This refers to the ability to put parts together to form a new whole. This may involve
the production of a unique communication or a plan of operations. Illustrative verbs include;
categorize, combine, organize etc.
vi. Evaluation. This is the ability to judge the value of the material (e. g. novel, poem, and
research report) for a given purpose. The judgments are based on definite criteria. Illustrative
verbs include, contrast, support, appraises; compares and contrasts; concludes; criticizes;
critiques; decides; defends; interprets; judges; justifies; reframes; support
Quellmalz (1985) also proposed a cognitive taxonomy, which has five categories. These are:

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i. Recall. This requires that students recognize or remember key facts, definitions,
concepts, rules, and principles. They require students to repeat verbatim or to
paraphrase given information e.g. Who wrote the story?
ii. Analysis. Students divide a whole into component elements, e. g. What are the
different parts of the story?

iii. Comparison. This requires students to recognize or explain similarities and

differences. E.g. How was this story like the last one?

iv. Inference. Students are given a generalization and are required to recognize evidence
or details and are required to come up with the generalization. e. g. What might be a
good title for the story?

v. Evaluation. Students are required to judge quality, credibility, worth, or practicality.

E.g. Is this a good story?

The Affective domain

This was developed by David Krathwohl, Benjamin Bloom, and Masia in1964. They classified
educational objectives in the affective domain into 5 categories.
i . Receiving: It is the lowest level of learning outcomes in the affective domain. It is the
willingness of a student/pupil to attend to particular phenomena/ stimuli (e. g. classroom
activities, reading textbook or library books, doing class assignment set c.) .Examples of general
instructional objectives include, listen attentively, and attends closely to the classroom activities.
Illustrative verbs that are used include asks, chooses, follows, gives, holds, names.
ii . Responding: It is the active participation of a student/pupil in given activities. The
student/pupil does not only attend to particular stimuli but also reacts to them in some way. The
student/pupil may read assigned material or does an assignment or project. Examples of general
instructional objectives include, completes assigned homework, obeys school rules, and
regulations. Illustrative verbs that are used include answers, assist, comply, conform, discuss,
greet, practice, write.
iii . Valuing: It is concerned with the worth or value a student/pupil attaches to a particular
object, phenomenon, or behaviour. The value ranges from a simple acceptance of a value to a
more complex level of commitment. Examples of general instructional objectives include, show
concern for the welfare of others, appreciates the role of science in everyday life. Illustrative
verbs include completes, describes, differentiates, explains, follows, initiates, invites, joins,
reads.
iv . Organization: It is the ability to bring together different values, resolving conflicts
between them, and beginning to build an internally consistent value system. Student s/ pupils
begin to develop philosophies of life. Examples of general instructional objectives include,
accept s responsibility for own behaviour, understands and accepts own strengths and
weaknesses. Illustrative verbs include adheres, alters, arranges, combines, compares, completes,
defends.
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v. Characterization by a value or value complex: This is the highest level in the affective domain.
At this level, the individual student/pupil has a value system that has controlled his/ her
behaviour for a sufficiently long time for him/ her to have developed a characteristic lifestyle.
Examples of general instructional objectives include, practices cooperation in group activities,
maintains good study habits. Illustrative verbs include acts, discriminate, displays, influences,
listens, modifies, performs, practices, proposes, qualifies.

The Psychomotor domain

Simpson (1972) and Harrow (1972) developed categories in this domain.
Simpson produced 7 categories while Harrow had 6 categories.
Simpson’s categories
1. Perception. This is the lowest level. It is the ability to use the sense organs to obtain cues
that guide motor activity. For example, relating the sound of drums to the dance type. Illustrative
verbs include, choose, describe, detect, identify.
2. Set. It is the readiness to take a particular type of action. Demonstrating a proper position
to save a penalty kick in a soccer game. Illustrative verbs include, begin, displays, explain,
shows, and starts.
3. Guided response. It involves the early stages of learning a complex skill. For example,
starting a car while beginning to learn how to drive. Illustrative verbs include, assemble, build,
construct, display.
4. Mechanism. This occurs when a learned activity has become habitual and movements are
performed with confidence and proficiency. For example, typing, operating a video recorder.
Illustrative verbs include a sketch, f i x, fasten, dissect, assemble.
5. Complex Overt Response. It is the ability to perform complex acts. For example driving
an articulator truck, performing skillfully on the piano. Illustrative verbs include; assemble,
build, construct, organize, etc.
6. Adaptation. It is the ability to modify movement patterns from well-developed skills to fit
special requirements or situations. For example, modify piano rhythms to suit local songs.
Illustrative verbs include adapt, alter, change, reorganize.
7. Origination. This is the highest level. It involves the ability to create new movement
patterns to meet a specific need or a particular problem. Creativity and originality are
emphasized. For example design new computer software, create a new musical dance.
Illustrative verbs include arrange, create, design, originate.
Harrow’s (1972) categories
1. Reflex movements are actions elicited without learning in response to some stimuli.
Examples include flexion, extension, stretch, postural adjustments.

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2. Basic fundamental movements are inherent movement patterns that are formed by
combining reflex movements and are the basis for complex skilled movements. Examples are:
walking, running, pushing, twisting, gripping, grasping, manipulating.
3. Perceptual abilities refer to the interpretation of various stimuli that enable one to make
adjustments to the environment. Visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or tactile discrimination. Suggest
cognitive as well as psychomotor behavior. Examples include coordinated movements such as
jumping rope, punting, or catching.

4. Physical activities require endurance, strength, vigor, and agility which produces a sound,
efficiently functioning body. Examples are all activities that require a) strenuous effort for long
periods; b) muscular exertion; c) a quick, wide range of motion at the hip joints; and d) quick,
precise movements.
5. Skilled movements are the result of the acquisition of a degree of efficiency when
performing a complex task. Examples are all skilled activities obvious in sports, recreation, and
dance.
6. Non-discursive communication is communication through bodily movements ranging
from facial expressions to sophisticated choreographies. Examples include: body postures,
gestures, and facial expressions efficiently executed in skilled dance movement and
choreographies

The Revised Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy was reviewed and revised by Anderson and Krathwohl, with the help of
many scholars and practitioners in the field, in 2001. They developed the revised Taxonomy,
which retained the same goals as the original Taxonomy but reflected almost half a century of
engagement with Bloom’s original version by educators and researchers.

Original vs. Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy

1. Unlike Bloom’s original “Knowledge” category, “Remember” refers only to the recall of
specific facts or procedures
2. Many instructors, in response to the original Taxonomy, commented on the absence of the
term “understand”. Bloom did not include it because the word could refer to many different
kinds of learning. However, in creating the revised Taxonomy, the authors found that when
instructors use the word “understand”, they were most frequently describing what the original
taxonomy had named “comprehension”.

Structure of the Cognitive Process Dimension of the Revised Taxonomy

1.0 Remember – Retrieving relevant knowledge from long-term memory

1.1 Recognizing
1.2 Recalling

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2.0 Understand – Determining the meaning of instructional messages, including oral,
written, and graphic communication
2.1 Interpreting
2.2 Exemplifying
2.3 Classifying
2.4 Summarizing
2.5 Inferring
2.6 Comparing
2.7 Explaining

3.0 Apply – Carrying out or using a procedure in a given situation

3.1 Executing
3.2 Implementing

4.0 Analyze – Breaking material into its constituent parts and detecting how the parts relate to
one another and an overall structure or purpose
1 Differentiating
2 Organizing 3 Attributing

5.0 Evaluate – Making judgments based on criteria and standards

1 Checking
2 Critiquing

6.0 Create – Putting elements together to form a novel, coherent whole or make an
original product 1 Generating
2 Planning
3 Producing

Structure of the Knowledge Dimension of the Revised Taxonomy

Factual knowledge – The basic elements that students must know to be acquainted with a
discipline or solve problems in it.

Conceptual knowledge – The interrelationships among the basic elements within a larger
structure that enable them to function together.

Procedural knowledge – How to do something; methods of inquiry; and criteria for using skills,
algorithms, techniques, and methods.

Metacognitive knowledge – Knowledge of cognition in general as well as awareness and

knowledge of one’s condition.

Selection of Objectives

SMART criteria for formulating objectives

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The acronym SMART is a prompt for formulating learning objectives. These letters stand for the
five criteria which learning objectives must meet and which you can use to check your learning
objectives against.

Specific: the learning objective is not vague, but describes concrete conditions and clear results.

Measurable: the learning objective has been formulated in such a manner that based on this
formulation it can be measured/examined whether students have achieved the learning objective.

Acceptable: the learning objective has been formulated in such a manner that students can see
the significance of it. For example the learning objective appeals to them or they see how it will
benefit them once achieved. The real art lies in connecting internal and external motivation.

Realistic: the learning objective must be feasible and attainable within the available means, time
limits, and provisions.

Time-related: the learning objective must set a moment by which time it must have been
achieved, for example: by the end of the course.

To prevent learning objectives from becoming too specific, SMART is sometimes used as a
prompt:

Inspiring: is the objective challenging and motivating?

Selection of content

Seven Criteria for the Selection of Subject Matter or Content of the Curriculum

The micro curriculum employs the seven criteria for the selection of subject matter below. For
the macro curriculum, the subjects needed for the curricular program or course comprise the
content.

1 Self-sufficiency

To help learners attain maximum self-sufficiency most economically is the central guiding
principle of subject matter or content selection (Scheffler, 1970) as cited by Bilbao et al. (2008).
Although the economy of learning implies less teaching effort and less use of educational
resources, students gain more results. They can cope up with the learning outcomes effectively.

This criterion means that students should be given a chance to experiment, observe, and do field
study. This system allows them to learn independently.

2 Significance

The subject matter or content is significant if it is selected and organized to develop learning
activities, skills, processes, and attitudes. It also develops the three domains of learning, namely
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the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor skills, and considers the learners’ cultural aspects.
Particularly, if your students come from different cultural backgrounds and races, the subject
matter must be culture-sensitive.

Thus, there is a need to regularly check the curriculum’s subject matter or contents and replace it
if necessary. Do not wait for another five years to change it.

Modern curriculum experts are after current trends, relevance, and authenticity of the curriculum;
otherwise, the school or the country becomes obsolete.

3.Validity

Validity refers to the authenticity of the subject matter or content you selected. Make sure that the
topics are not obsolete.

For example, do not include typewriting as a skill to be learned by students. It should be about
the computer or Information Technology (IT).

Thus, there is a need to regularly check the curriculum’s subject matter or contents and replace it
if necessary. Do not wait for another five years to change it.

Modern curriculum experts are after current trends, relevance, and authenticity of the curriculum;
otherwise, the school or the country becomes obsolete.

4. Interest

This criterion is valid to the learner-centered curriculum. Students learn best if the subject matter
is interesting, thus makes it meaningful to them.

However, if the curriculum is subject-centered, teachers have no choice but to finish the pacing
schedule religiously and only teach what is in the book. This approach explains why many
students fail in the subject.

5. Utility

Another criterion is the usefulness of the content or subject matter. Students think that a subject
matter or some subjects are not necessary to them. They view it as useless. As a result, they do
not study.

Here are the questions that students often ask:

Will I need the subject in my job?

Will it give meaning to my life?

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Will it develop my potentials?

Will it solve my problem?

Will it be part of the test?

Will I have a passing mark if I learn it?

Students only value the subject matter or content if it is useful to them.

6. Learnability

The subject matter or content must be within the schema of the learners. It should be within their
experiences. Teachers should apply theories in the psychology of learning to know how subjects
are presented, sequenced, and organized to maximize students’ learning capacity.

7. Feasibility

Feasibility means the full implementation of the subject matter. It should consider the school’s
real situation, the government, and society in general. Students must learn within the allowable
time and the use of resources available. Do not give them a topic that is impossible to finish.

For example, you have only one week left to finish the unit, but the activities may take a month
for the students to complete. Thus, this requirement is not feasible.

Selection of Learning Activities/Experiences

Learning experience

A learning experience is an interaction between the learner and the external conditions in the
environment to which he can react.

The criteria for selecting learning experiences are derived from the principles of learning;

Validity; experiences must be closely connected with the educational goals and result in changed
behaviour concerning the stipulated objective.

Comprehensiveness; comprehensiveness demands that all the objectives which are stated should
have corresponding experiences.

Variety; variable learning experiences should be presented.

Suitability; learning experiences must be closely related to the learner's needs, capacities,
interests end with other factors that condition learning.

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Balance and continuity; balancing experiences from outside with others from the learning
process itself.

Relevance; learning experiences should have maximal relation to life.

Selection of Assessment and Evaluation

The assessment method is used here to refer to the various strategies and techniques that teachers
might use to acquire assessment information. These strategies and techniques include, but are
not limited to, observations, text- and curriculum-embedded questions and tests, paper-and-
pencil tests, oral questioning, benchmarks or reference sets, interviews, peer-and self-
assessments, standardized criterion-referenced and norm-referenced tests, performance
assessments, writing samples, exhibitions, portfolio assessment, and project and product
assessments. Several labels have been used to describe subsets of these alternatives, with the
most common being direct assessment, authentic assessment, performance assessment, and
alternative assessment.

However, for the principles, the term assessment method has been used to encompass all the
strategies and techniques that might be used to collect information from students about their
progress toward attaining the knowledge, skills, attitudes, or behaviors to be learned.

• Assessment methods should be developed or chosen so that inferences drawn

about the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors possessed by each student
are valid and not open to misinterpretation. Validity refers to the degree to which
inferences drawn from assessment results are meaningful.
Therefore, the development or selection of assessment methods for collecting
information should be linked to the purposes for which inferences and decisions
are to be made. For example, to monitor the progress of students as proofreaders
and editors of their work, it is better to assign an actual writing task, to allow time
and resources for editing (dictionaries, handbooks, etc.), and to observe students
for evidence of proofreading and editing skill as they work than to use a test
containing discreet items on usage and grammar that are relatively devoid of
context.
• Assessment methods should be related to the goals and objectives of instruction,
and be compatible with the instructional approaches used. To enhance validity,
assessment methods should be in harmony with the instructional objectives to
which they are referenced. Planning an assessment design at the same time as
planning instruction will help integrate the two in meaningful ways. Such joint
planning provides an overall perspective on the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and
behaviors to be learned and assessed, and the contexts in which they will be
learned and assessed.
• When developing or choosing assessment methods, consideration should be given
to the consequences of the decisions to be made in light of the obtained
information. The outcomes of some assessments may be more critical than others.
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For example, misinterpretation of the level of performance on an end-of-unit test
may result in incorrectly holding a student from proceeding to the next
instructional unit in a continuous progress situation. In such high-stake situations,
every effort should be made to ensure the assessment method will yield consistent
and valid results. Low stake situations, such as determining if a student has
correctly completed an in-class assignment, can be less stringent. Low stake
assessments are often repeated during a reporting period using a variety of
methods. If the results are aggregated to form a summary comment or grade, the
summary will have greater consistency and validity than its component elements.

• More than one assessment method should be used to ensure comprehensive and
consistent indications of student performance. To obtain a more complete picture
or profile of a student’s knowledge, skills, attitudes, or behaviors, and to discern
consistent patterns and trends, more than one assessment method should be used.
Student knowledge might be assessed using completion items; process or
reasoning skills might be assessed by observing performance on a relevant task;
evaluation skills might be assessed by reflecting upon the discussion with a
student about what materials to include in a portfolio. Self-assessment may help
to clarify and add meaning to the assessment of written communication, science
project, piece of artwork, or attitude. Use of more than one method will also help
minimize inconsistency brought about by different sources of measurement error
(for example, poor performance because of an off-day; lack of agreement among
items included in a test, rating scale, or questionnaire; lack of agreement among
observers; instability across time).
• Assessment methods should be suited to the backgrounds and prior experiences of
students. Assessment methods should be free from bias brought about by student
factors extraneous to the purpose of the assessment. Possible factors to consider
include culture, developmental stage, ethnicity, gender, socio-economic
background, language, special interests, and special needs. Students' success in
answering questions on a test or in an oral quiz, for example, should not be
dependent upon prior cultural knowledge, such as understanding an allusion to a
cultural tradition or value, unless such knowledge falls within the content domain
being assessed. All students should be given the same opportunity to display their
strengths.
• Content and language that would generally be viewed as sensitive, sexist, or
offensive should be avoided. The vocabulary and problem situation in each test
item or performance task should not favor or discriminate against any group of
students. Steps should be taken to ensure that stereotyping is not condoned. A
language that might be offensive to particular groups of students should be
avoided. Judicious use of different roles for males and females and minorities and
the careful use of language should contribute to more effective and, therefore,
fairer assessments.

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• Assessment instruments translated into a second language or transferred from
another context or location should be accompanied by evidence that inferences
based on these instruments are valid for the intended purpose. Translation of an
assessment instrument from one language to another is a complex and demanding
task. Similarly, the adoption or modification of an instrument developed in
another country is often not simple and straightforward. Care must be taken to
ensure that the results from translated and imported instruments are not
misinterpreted or misleading.

UNIT THREE

CREATIVE APPROACHES AND INDIGENOUS PEDAGOGIES

3.1 Roleplay
Role-playing is a way of working through a situation, a scenario, or a problem by assuming roles
and practicing what to say and do in a safe setting. This kind of learning experience has several
benefits and advantages when it's implemented skillfully by a good trainer or teacher. Instructors
can supplement their teaching methods with role-playing in any context where it seems relevant.
Even rehearsals of personal situations through role-playing with a trusted friend can provide
beneficial learning opportunities.

Steps in organizing role-play

Let’s first look at the acronym of four steps in organizing a structured role-play; S. E. R. A. S for
structured, E for experience, R for reflection, and A for application.

Structured: This is the first stage: Here the teacher introduces the role-play for example
the trial of a case in court. He/she sets up the stage and tells the role players and the
observers to take their positions.
Experience: This is the stage when the role players’ act-out and the observers view it.
The teacher does not interfere in the role play. Rather if resources are available, he/she
should video the role play for future evaluation.
Reflection: This is a post role-play activity. After the role-play, members of the class
reflect on the role play and reach some general conclusions. They reflect on the
usefulness of the role play concerning the topic at hand. They do this as a class or in a
group or individually.
Application: This is when learners relate what they have learned to the real world. The
teacher does this by given the class some leading questions. For example, after role play
on the Good Samaritan, the teacher could pose such questions as:
What did you learn from the play?
Have you heard of attacks in the community as was done by the robbers? Are
the people in the community who act like the Samaritan? etc.
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However, Shafter suggests that there are nine steps in role play. These are;

Warm up the group – This step involves presenting students with a problem, providing examples,
and having students predict what might happen.

Select participants – In this step, the characters and their characteristics are identified and
students volunteer or the teacher assigns the roles. The teacher should not assign roles based on
student suggestions, however, as that could put a student in an uncomfortable situation or
stereotype the student.

Set the stage – A line of action and the setting are established and the roles are restated.

Prepare the observers – To make sure that the whole group stays involved; the teacher is
encouraged to assign them tasks. For example, the observers could evaluate the realism of the
role-playing, respond to the effectiveness and sequences of the role players’ behavior, and define
the feeling and ways of thinking of the persons being portrayed.

Enact – The players assume the roles and spontaneously “live” the situation from beginning to
end of the situation.

Discuss and Evaluate – In this step, the action of the role-playing is reviewed, the focus is
discussed, and the next enactment is developed.

Reenact – New interpretations of roles are shared and new possibilities for causes and effects are
explored in this step.

Discuss and evaluate as was done in Step 6.

Share Experiences and Generalize – The problem situation is related to children’s current
problems and the real experience in a non-threatening way.

Benefits of Role-Playing.

Helps Learners Develop Emotional Connections

When teachers use role-playing as instruction, students have the capability of developing deeper
involvement and knowledge about the issues at hand.

Assessment and Application of Learning

Another benefit is that teachers can observe realistic behavior in role-playing that can be used to
assess and diagnose where students are in their skill level and development of knowledge.

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Provides a Safe Place to Practice and Learn

Role-playing provides a safer environment to practice without real-world consequences. While

some students may experience anxiety during role-playing, it is better to work through those
nerves in a simulated environment. Role-playing in instruction allows for greater control of the
practice sessions by dividing up the situation or lesson into steps that can be mastered in stages.

This is not usually the case in the real-world setting, so there is a benefit to practicing those skills
needing more attention or that have increasing complexity.

Helps Learners Develop Empathy

Role-playing has the benefit of involving emotional and cognitive processing, allowing the
development of greater empathy for others. Empathy is the act of trying to compassionately
understand the feelings and positions of others. This advantage can help one learn to
communicate with his family by practicing with someone and taking the role of one who has his
family's opinions. By advocating for their positions, he can be more prepared for civil discourse
and better understand their positions.

Disadvantages or Weaknesses of role-play

People sometimes emphasize performance over the intended purpose

It can be time-consuming
It may be harmful to those students who lack the necessary skills. Eg. Those who are shy
or have speech problems
It May benefit only the actual participants unless the objectives of the lesson have been
clearly stated
Students with talent often monopolize the situation.
Games

Game is a teaching method that allows learners to explore different parts of games as a form of
learning. Games can be designed by teachers and other education specialists in a way that
balances academic subjects such as history with the strategies, rules, and social aspects of
playing a game.

Kupisiewicz, (2009) identifies three types of games as;

Simulation games – the task is to present a specific fragment of reality in a simplified manner,
which makes it easier to observe or manipulate it;

Situational games – the idea is to challenge children and the youth to solve fictional tasks,

Staging games –require the reproduction of past events or create new plans for those events.

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Benefits of games

Games evoke positive motivation for learning and they consolidate obtained knowledge. They
deepen the interest in the topic, understanding of basic notions in the area of management and
they integrate knowledge from various domains;

Acquisition or development of key competencies connected with various interactions, such as

the development of teamwork skills, persistence, critical thinking, and analytical thinking.

Games allow for the acquisition or strengthening of readiness to act, take risks, and assume
responsibility.

Getting to know the student in various situations – games make it possible to see character traits
that are usually not visible. They allow assessing the student’s lack and deficiencies in situations
that are not connected with stress.

Presentation of issues related to various phenomena, technical processes included in the

curriculum – games develop an interest in the topic of class and positively influence the relation
of the student to the subject (Gulińska, 2008);

The more effective educational impact of the teacher during the game – games allow shifting the
centre of gravity from the teacher and their teachings to the student and their independent action.

Games make competencies connected with a creative approach to problems and orientation to
risk more dynamic.

Storytelling

Storytelling is a means for sharing and interpreting experiences. Berger (2010) says human life is
narratively rooted; humans construct their lives and shape their world into homes in terms of
these groundings and memories. Stories are universal in that they can bridge cultural, linguistic,
and age-related divides. Storytelling can be adaptive for all ages, leaving out the notion of age
segregation. Storytelling can be used as a method to teach ethics, values, and cultural norms and
differences. Learning is most effective when it takes place in social environments that provide
authentic social cues about how knowledge is to be applied. Stories function as a tool to pass on
knowledge in a social context. Every story has 3 parts; the setup, the Confrontation, and the
Resolution.

Principles of storytelling

There are four fundamental principles in storytelling; character, context, conflict, and creation.

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Character

A character adds a face to the story. They give the events of the story perspective. Characters
allow the audience to see themselves in the narrative and empathize. Without characters, stories
would be unrelatable, uninteresting, not to mention, implausible. In other words, not much of a
story. The main character gives the story focus and personality. Character development describes
changes that a character undergoes during the narrative. The better the characters, the better the
story.

Context

Stories do not exist in a vacuum. They happen in a specific time and place—better known as a
setting. The setting gives an audience a much-needed context for the story. When and where a
narrative transpires provides the audience with a crucial framework. The setting provides the
internal context for every story. Stories also have two important external contexts—audience and
medium. Who are you telling the story to? And how are they receiving the story? Audiences
matter because who you’re talking to can change what you say. The same is true for the
storytelling format. Stories in printed books are experienced differently from those shown in
online videos. Always consider your setting, audience, and medium when storytelling.

Conflict

The not-so-secret ingredient to a good story is conflict. What’s the point of a story without
conflict? A story without conflict is like a sporting event without an opponent. Conflict drives the
action of the story. It supplies the tension that motivates the characters. Conflict also gives a
framework for the narrative. Stories typically begin with the introduction of a conflict. They end
once the conflict is resolved. Without conflict, there’s nothing to move the characters or frame
the narrative. Without conflict, there’s nothing to resolve in the end. Without conflict, there’s no
reason to tell the story. More than any other principle, conflict is the most indicative of true
storytelling. Any anecdote or rant can have characters and setting. But conflict sets real stories
apart from the rest. When you’re telling a story, be sure to find the tension and bring it to the
forefront.

Creation

If the first three principles define the story, this one defines the telling. Creation pulls together
characters, context, and conflict into one comprehensive narrative. The greatest characters and
most interesting conflict in the world are no good if they aren’t shared compellingly. Every
storyteller has their unique voice and style. These both come into play as you craft the story in
your way. From the words used, to how the narrative is structured, creativity plays an important
role in the storytelling process. Two virtues matter when creating a good story—clarity and
consistency. A story is no good if it’s too confusing or can’t agree with itself. As long as you
remain clear and consistent, you can’t go wrong.
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Benefits of storytelling

Storytelling is used as an oral form of language associated with practices and values essential to
developing one's identity.

Storytelling is a way to teach younger members of indigenous communities about their culture
and their identities.

Storytelling allowed children to formulate ideas based on their own experiences and perspectives.

Storytelling is one of many main practices that teaches children the important principles to live a
good life

Stories are a way to pass knowledge on from generation to generation.

Storytelling is one of the many effective ways to educate both the young and old about their
cultures, identities, and history.

Modeling

Modeling is an instructional strategy in which the teacher demonstrates a new concept or

approach to learning and students learn by observing. Using this type of instruction, teachers
engage students in imitation of particular behaviors that encourage learning.

Components of modeling

There are four key components in modeling as follows;

Goal Statement: What are you modeling, and why? State this clearly, briefly, and in terms that
resonate with the learner(s).

Demonstration: Someone who is highly skilled in the behavior or skill (either an adult or
student) should demonstrate, giving a strong, simple, and positive example.

Reflection: Learners should reflect on the modeling. What did they see? What worked? Learners
may reflect individually, with partners or groups, or as a whole class.

Practice: Learners should immediately get to try the skill or task being learned while receiving
feedback.

Benefit of modeling

It provides instructors a tool kit for incorporating models and modeling into their
classrooms and highlights core ideas, important considerations, and key examples. It
provides recommendations for scaffolding modeling instruction and delivering feedback

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that promotes and strengthens students’ development of model-based skills. Modeling
can help teachers and learners question, organize, and visualize their understanding.
Modeling can support learning goals related to the content, making content more versatile
and transferable for students.
Students can also use models to make and test predictions and explain a phenomenon.
Modeling can be a component of formative and summative assessment.
What is play?

Play is multi-faceted, complex, and dynamic, eluding easy definition. It is usually felt to be a
universal activity and children are often portrayed as having an inherent desire and capacity to
play.

Play has been defined as an activity that is:

Characterized by engagement and engagement, with high levels of involvement, engrossment,

and intrinsic motivation imaginative, creative, and non-literal

Voluntary or freely chosen, personally directed (often child-initiated) and free from externally
imposed rules fluid and active but also guided by mental rules and high levels of metacognition
and metacommunication (communication about communication) which give it structure process-
driven rather than product-driven, with no extrinsic goals

Play can take different forms, with common categories that can and do overlap within a given
episode of play. These include exploratory play with objects, physical play, pretend, fantasy or
dramatic play, games, and puzzles and other play involving explicit rules, constructive play
(including artistic and musical play), language play (play with words and other features of the
language such as rhyme) and outdoor play.

Types play

Free play

Free play is child-initiated and child-directed. Children choose their activities and focus,
enabling unconstrained freedom of expression and open-ended interactions with their
environment. Play is initiated, sustained, and developed by children, free of adult influence,
although this does mean that it focuses on ideas, content, and language that are already familiar
and known to children. Some researchers question the extent to which free play is truly free, as
children’s choices about what, how, where, and with whom to play may be influenced by the play
environment and its associated rules and boundaries (which are controlled by adults), and the
choices of others about what to play. Gender, ethnicity, social class, and disability may also affect
their patterns of participation.

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Guided play

Guided play (also called ‘scaffolded play’ or ‘mutually directed’ play) is child-centred and goal-
directed. Guided play invites children’s active engagement, free exploration, and direction of
play, but also has clear learning goals so that players’ behaviours are limited in useful ways and
distraction is reduced. Children’s initiatives, reflections, choices, and creativity are important as a
context for teachers to extend children’s knowledge, understanding, and skills. They allow
teachers to naturally integrate desired learning outcomes with children’s play and infuse play
with new and unfamiliar content and ideas. Teachers are sensitive and responsive to children’s
interests and interactions while maintaining a focus on learning goals through deliberate,
purposeful, and intentional teaching strategies. These might include commenting on discoveries,
offering feedback, demonstrating the use of equipment, reinforcing specific vocabulary, or
helping the child explore new strategies for problem-solving, within the context of the activities
that children are constructing.

Teachers also initiate and co-construct play with children. They might design a learning activity
that incorporates a child’s specific interest or choose themes and contexts for a dramatic play that
is based on children’s interests or significant events and links to specific learning objectives.

Teachers and children collaboratively design the context of the play, including the theme and its
resources, and then children develop their play within the rules and actions of that context.

Teacher-directed play

Teacher-directed play involves teacher-determined activities, outcomes, and modes of

engagement. Teachers use a playful, engaging manner to develop children’s academic skills and
knowledge, focusing on playful learning processes, fun and enjoyment, and the use and
development of children’s creativity to invite children’s active engagement. However, unlike free
and guided play, teachers retain tight control over what occurs, outlining specific rules of play for
children to follow, specifying how children are expected to engage in the activities, and generally
structuring activities within a given time frame to ensure specific learning outcomes.

Benefits play

Benefits for well-being, including higher self-efficacy, higher expectations for one’s success,
intrinsic motivation, and positive attitudes towards the early childhood setting or school.

Academic/cognitive benefits: play supports exploratory skills and discovery, the use of abstract
thought and symbols, communication and oral language skills, verbal intelligence, imagination
and creativity, and reading, writing, and mathematics. Play also encourages important learning
dispositions, engagement and participation, and the integration of different cognitive processes.
Play develops self-regulatory executive function skills (such as controlling attention, suppressing

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impulses, flexibly redirecting thought and behaviour, and holding and using the information in
working memory), metacognitive skills, and problem-solving.

Social and emotional benefits including social skills such as making friends, empathy,
expressing emotion, and conflict resolution. Play can also build resilience.

Physical benefits in terms of the development of large and small body muscles and motor skills,
while the physicality of play is associated with improved cognitive function, behavioral and
cognitive control, and academic achievement.

UNIT FOUR

COLLABORATIVE AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING APPROACHES

The concept of collaborative learning

The concept of collaborative learning, the grouping, and pairing of learners to achieve a learning
goal has been widely researched and advocated.

The term "collaborative learning" refers to an instructional method in which learners at various
performance levels work together in small groups toward a common goal. The learners are
responsible for one another's learning as well as their own. Thus, the success of one learner helps
other students to be successful.

Collaborative learning is also defined as an educational approach to teaching and learning that
involves groups of learners working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a
product. Collaborative learning is based on the idea that learning is a naturally social act in which
the participants talk among themselves. It is through the talk that learning occurs.

Collaborative learning (CL) is an instruction that involves students working in teams to

accomplish a common goal, under conditions that include the following elements (Johnson,
Johnson, and Smith, 1991):

1. Positive interdependence. Team members are obliged to rely on one another to achieve
the goal. If any team members fail to do their part, everyone suffers consequences.

2. Individual accountability. All students in a group are held accountable for doing their
share of the work and for mastery of all of the material to be learned.

3. Face-to-face promotes interaction. Although some of the group work may be parceled
out and done individually, some must be done interactively, with group members providing one
another with feedback, challenging one another's conclusions and reasoning, and perhaps most
importantly, teaching and encouraging one another.

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4. Appropriate use of collaborative skills. Students are encouraged and helped to develop
and practice trust-building, leadership, decision-making, communication, and conflict
management skills.

5. Group processing. Team members set group goals, periodically assess what they are
doing well as a team, and identify changes they will make to function more effectively in the
future

Some Collaborative Learning Strategies

Think-Pair-Share: (1) The instructor poses a question, preferable one demanding analysis,
evaluation, or synthesis, and gives students about a minute to think through an appropriate
response. This "think-time" can be spent writing, also. (2) Students then turn to a partner and
share their responses. (3) During the third step, student responses can be shared within a four-
person learning team, within a larger group, or with an entire class during a follow-up discussion.
The caliber of discussion is enhanced by this technique, and all students have an opportunity to
learn by reflection and by verbalization.

Three-Step Interview: Common as an ice-breaker or a team-building exercise, this structure can

also be used to share information such as hypotheses or reactions to a film or article. (1) Students
form dyads; one student interviews the other. (2) Students switch roles. (3) The dyad links with a
second dyad. This four-member learning team then discusses the information or insights gleaned
from the initial paired interviews.

Simple Jigsaw: The faculty member divides an assignment or topic into four parts with all
students from each Learning Team volunteering to become "experts" on one of the parts.
Expert Teams then work together to master their fourth of the material and also to discover the
best way to help others learn it. All experts then reassemble in their home LEARNING TEAMS
where they teach the other group members.

Numbered Heads Together: Members of learning teams usually composed of four individuals,
count off: 1, 2, 3, or 4. the instructor poses a question, usually factual, but requiring some higher-
order thinking skills. Students discuss the question, making certain that every group member
knows the agreed-upon answer. The instructor calls a specific number and the team members
originally designated that number during the count-off respond as group spokespersons. Because
no one knows which number the teacher will call, all team members have a vested interest in
understanding the appropriate response.

Again, students benefit from the verbalization, and peer coaching helps both the high and the low
achievers. Class time is usually better spent because less time is wasted on inappropriate
responses and because all students become actively involved with the material.

What is Cooperative Learning?

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Cooperative Learning involves structuring classes around small groups that work together in
such a way that each group member's success is dependent on the group's success. There are
different kinds of groups for different situations, but they all balance some key elements that
distinguish cooperative learning from competitive or individualistic learning.

Cooperative learning can also be contrasted with what it is not. Cooperation is not having
students sit side-by-side at the same table to talk with each other as they do their assignments.
Cooperation is not assigning a report to a group of students where one student does all the work
and the others put their names on the product as well. Cooperation involves much more than
being physically near other students, discussing material, helping, or sharing material with other
students. There is a crucial difference between simply putting students into groups to learn and
structuring cooperative interdependence among students

Cooperative Learning Techniques

Barkley, Cross, and Major (2005) opined that Cooperative learning techniques can be loosely
categorized by the skill that each enhances as follows;

Discussion.
A good give-and-take discussion can produce unmatched learning experiences as students
articulate their ideas, respond to their classmates' points, and develop skills in evaluating the
evidence of their own and others' positions.

Think-pair-share: As probably the best known cooperative learning exercise, the think-pair-
share structure provides students with the opportunity to reflect on the question posed and then
practice sharing and receiving potential solutions. Its simplicity provides instructors with an easy
entry into cooperative learning and it is readily adaptable to a wide range of course constructs.
(Example: Where Do I Begin? Using Think-Pair-Share to Initiate the Problem Solving Process)

Three-step interview: This structure can be used both as an ice-breaker that introduces students
to one another and to provide students with a venue for soliciting opinions, positions, or ideas
from their peers. Students are first paired and take turns interviewing each other using a series of
questions provided by the instructor. Pairs then match up and students introduce their original
partner. At the end of the exercise, all four students have had their position or viewpoints on an
issue heard, digested, and described by their peers.

Reciprocal teaching: explaining, providing feedback, understanding alternative perspectives.

Slavin (1996), maintained that "students who give each other elaborated explanations (and less
consistently, those who receive such explanations) are the students who learn most in cooperative
learning." (p. 53)

Note-taking pairs: Poor note-taking leads to poor performance. Designing an exercise that
requires students to summarize their understanding of a concept based on notes taken (with
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directed questions such as what is the definition of a concept, how is it used, what are the three
most important characteristics of a topic) and receiving reflective feedback from their partner
provides students the opportunity to find critical gaps in their written records.

Jigsaw: For more complex problems, this structure provides students the opportunity to develop
expertise in one of many components of a problem by first participating in a group solely focused
on a single component. In the second stage of the exercise, groups are reformed with a
representative from each expert group who together now have sufficient expertise to tackle the
whole problem.

Graphic organizers: discovering patterns and relationships

"Graphic organizers are powerful tools for converting complex information into meaningful
displays...They can provide a framework for gathering and sorting ideas for discussion, writing,
and research." (Barkley, Cross, and Major, 2005, p.205) See also, concept mapping.

Group grid: Students practice organizing and classifying information in a table. A more complex
version of this structure requires students to first identify the classification scheme that will be
used.

Sequence chains: The goal of this exercise is to provide a visual representation of a series of
events, actions, roles, or decisions. Students can be provided with the items to be organized or
asked to first generate these based on a predetermined end goal. This structure can be made more
complex by having students also identify and describe the links between each of the sequenced
components.

Dyadic essays: Students prepare for the in-class portion of this exercise by developing an essay
question and model answer based on the assigned reading. Students typically need to be guided
to develop questions that integrate material across classes as opposed to ones that simply recite
facts presented in the reading. In class, students exchange essay questions and write a
spontaneous answer essay. Students then pair up, compare and contrast the model answer and the
spontaneously generated answer. Subsequently, questions and answers can be shared with the
larger class.

Peer editing: As opposed to the editing process that often appears only at the final stage of a
paper, peer editing pairs up students at the idea generation stage, and peers provide feedback
throughout the process. For example, the relationship begins as each student in the pair describes
their topic ideas and outlines the structure of their work while their partner asks questions, and
develops an outline based on what is described. See also, peer review.

Problem-solving: developing strategies and analysis

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Research by mathematics educators Vidakovic (1997) and Vidakovic and Martin (2004) shows
that groups can solve problems more accurately than individuals working alone.

Send-a-problem: Students participate in a series of problem-solving rounds, contributing their

independently generated solution to those that have been developed by other groups. After
several rounds, students are asked to review the solutions developed by their peers, evaluate the
answers and develop a final solution. (Example: Understanding the Impact of (Fiscal and
Monetary) Policy)

Three-stay, one-stray: Even students working in groups can benefit from the feedback of
additional peers. In this structure, students periodically take a break from their work (often at key
decision-making points) and send one group member to another group to describe their progress.
The role of the group is to gain information and alternative perspectives by listening and sharing.
The number of times the group sends a representative to another group depends on the level of
complexity of the problem. This method can also be used to report out final solutions.

Differences between collaborative learning cooperative learning

Collaborative Learning Cooperative Learning
Collaborative learning requires the mutual Cooperative learning requires individuals to
engagement of all participants and a take responsibility for a specific section and
coordinated effort to solve the problem then coordinate their respective parts together.
Collaborative learning applies to college and Cooperative learning is typically used for
university students because it is used to teach children because it is used to understand the
non-foundations of learning. foundations of knowledge
Collaborative learning is a philosophy of Cooperative learning is a
interaction structure of interaction.

Group work
Group work is a student-centered way of teaching that emphasizes collaboration, cooperation,
and teamwork. Rance-Roney (2010) describes group work as a classroom practice where
“students work in teams to construct knowledge and accomplish tasks through collaborative
interaction.” Sometimes teachers use groups to work on short activities in an informal way.
However, a more formal structure to group work can provide many benefits for the students as
well.

Benefits of group work

Working in groups allows students to be in an interactive environment. This interaction

helps them to develop language and social skills.
During group work, students are engaging with the task, increasing their confidence, and
becoming responsible for their learning (Sajedi, 2014).

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Working together is effective because students interact meaningfully in the target
language and get helpful feedback from peers.
Students develop “positive interdependence.” This means that they encourage and help
each other by sharing ideas and knowledge to reach a common goal.
Group work can help you manage your classroom successfully regardless of class size or
content.
Group work creates an atmosphere that encourages successful behaviors.
Working in groups engages students with others who may have different sets of language
and social skills.
Using smaller groups to meet classroom goals allows students to develop skills that are
valuable in life and work, such as:
• talking about ideas
• justifying opinions
• collaborating with others
• building consensus

• handling conflict
• disagreeing politely
Limitations of group work

• the group can go off in the wrong direction

• the group can be hijacked by some determined individuals
• some members may become passengers making others take the lead
• individual creativity may be stifled
• supervision by teachers can be difficult

Types of Groups and Their Formations

1. Buzz groups
These groups involve students engaging in short, informal discussions, often in response to a
particular sentence starter or question. At a transitional moment in the class, have students turn to
1-3 neighbors to discuss any difficulties in understanding, answer a prepared question, define or
give examples of key concepts, or speculate on what will happen next in the class. The best
discussions are those in which students make judgments regarding the relative merits, relevance,
or usefulness of an aspect of the lecture (Brookfield & Preskill, 1999). Sample questions include,
“What’s the most contentious statement you’ve heard so far in the lecture today?” or “What’s the
most unsupported assertion you’ve heard in the lecture today?” Reconvene as a class and have a
general discussion in which students share ideas or questions that arose within their subgroups.
Class size: any

Time frame: 3-10 minutes

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Setting: no limitations

Purpose: generate ideas/answers, re-stimulate student interest, gauge student understanding

2. Think-pair-share
This strategy has three steps. First, students think individually about a particular question or
scenario. Then they pair up to discuss and compare their ideas. Finally, they are given the chance
to share their ideas in a large class discussion. Class size: any

Time frame: 5-10 minutes

Setting: no limitations

Purpose: generate ideas, increase students’ confidence in their answers, encourage broad
participation in plenary session

3. Circle of Voices

This method involves students taking turns to speak. Students form circles of four or five. Give
students a topic, and allow them a few minutes to organize their thoughts about it. Then the
discussion begins, with each student having up to three minutes (or choose a different length) of
uninterrupted time to speak. During this time, no one else is allowed to say anything. After
everyone has spoken once, open the floor within the subgroup for general discussion. Specify
that students should only build on what someone else has said, not on their ideas; also, at this
point, they should not introduce new ideas (Brookfield & Preskill, 1999).

Class size: any

Time frame: 10-20 minutes

Setting: moveable chairs preferable

Purpose: generate ideas, develop listening skills, have all students participate, equalize learning
environment

4. Rotating trios
This strategy involves students discussing issues with many of their classmates in turn.
Beforehand, prepare discussion questions. In class, students form trios, with the groups arranged
in a large circle or square formation. Give the students a question and suggest that each person
take a turn answering. After a suitable period, ask the trios to assign a 0, 1, or 2 to each of its
members. Then direct the #1s to rotate one trio clockwise, the #2s to rotate two trios clockwise,
and the #0s to remain in the same place; the result will be completely new trios. Now introduce a
new, slightly more difficult question. Rotate trios and introduce new questions as many times as
you would like (Silberman, 1996).

Class size: 15-30

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Time frame: 10 or more minutes

Setting: a fair bit of space, moveable seating helpful (they could stand) Purpose: introduce
students to many of their peers, generate ideas

5. Snowball groups/pyramids
This method involves progressive doubling: students first work alone, then in pairs, then
in fours, and so on. In most cases, after working in fours, students come together for a
plenary session in which their conclusions or solutions are pooled. Provide a sequence of
increasingly complex tasks so that students do not become bored with a repeated
discussion at multiple stages. For example, have students record a few questions that
relate to the class topic. In pairs, students try to answer one another’s questions. Pairs join
together to make fours and identify, depending on the topic, either unanswered questions
or areas of controversy, or relevant principles based on their previous discussions. Back
in the large class group, one representative from each group reports the group’s
conclusions (Habeshaw et al, 1984; Jaques, 2000).
Class size: 12-50

Time frame: 15-20 minutes, depending on how many times the groups “snowball”

Setting: moveable seating required

Purpose: generate well-vetted ideas, narrow a topic, and develop decision-making skills.

6. Jigsaw
This strategy involves students becoming “experts” on one aspect of a topic and then
sharing their expertise with others. Divide a topic into a few constitutive parts (“puzzle
pieces”). Form subgroups of 3-5 and assign each subgroup a different “piece” of the topic
(or, if the class is large, assign two or more subgroups to each subtopic). Each group’s
task is to develop expertise on its particular subtopic by brainstorming, developing ideas,
and if time permits, researching. Once students have become experts on a particular
subtopic, shuffle the groups so that the members of each new group have a different area
of expertise. Students then take turns sharing their expertise with the other group
members, thereby creating a completed “puzzle” of knowledge about the main topic
(Silberman, 1996). A convenient way to assign different areas of expertise is to distribute
handouts of different colours. For the first stage of the group work, groups are composed
of students with the same colour of handout; for the second stage, each member of the
newly formed groups must have a different colour of the handout.
Class size: 10-50

Time frame: 20 or more minutes

Setting: moveable seating required, a lot of space preferable

Purpose: learn concepts in-depth, develop teamwork, have students teaching students
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7. Fishbowl
This method involves one group observing another group. The first group forms a circle and
either discusses an issue or topic, does a role play, or performs a brief drama. The second group
forms a circle around the inner group. Depending on the inner group’s task and the context of
your course, the outer group can look for themes, patterns, soundness of argument, etc., in the
inner group’s discussion, analyze the inner group’s functioning as a group, or simply watch and
comment on the role play. Debrief with both groups at the end in a plenary to capture their
experiences. See Jaques (2000) for several variations on this technique.

Class size: 10-50

Time frame: 15 or more minutes

Setting: moveable seating and a lot of space preferable; if necessary, have inner group stand/sit in
front of a lecture hall and the outer group sit in regular lecture hall seats

Purpose: observe group interaction, provide real illustrations for concepts, provide an opportunity
for analysis

8. Learning teams
For this type of group, students are divided into groups at the beginning of the term. When you
want to incorporate small group discussion or teamwork into your class, you direct the students
to get into these term-long learning groups. Groups of four work well because each foursome can
be subdivided into pairs, depending on the activity.

Class size: any

Time frame: any

Setting: no limitations

Purpose: foster relationships among students, increase confidence in participating

Effective Classroom Management Strategies for Small Group

The following are ways of managing group work in the classroom;

Frequently Cited Problem Behaviors

• Not following along
• Blurting out responses
• Disturbing others (including making noises & deliberately annoying others)
• Delays in starting a task
• Out of seat
• Not prepared with materials
• Non-Compliance
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• Arguing

Physical Structure
• The goal is to design a structure that allows the teacher to interact quickly and
easily with all students.
• Respond consistently to minor misbehavior
• Respond to misbehavior before it escalates
• Engage frequently in positive interactions

Consider risk factors when determining arrangement.

• Grade level
• number of students
• reputation of class
• teacher experience
• Optimize for most common types of instructional tasks.
• If necessary, train students in procedures for physically restructuring the room.
• Getting Started with Expectations for Behavior
Define expectations for group, independent & transition times.
• Teach Expectations
• Monitor Expectations
• Encourage Compliance
• Use Correction Procedures.
• Teaching Expectations
• Describe the expectations.
• Provide examples and non-examples.
• Rehearse the expectations
• Provide frequent opportunities to follow expectations  Reinforce compliance.
• Use corrective procedures that teach expectations.
• Review expectations frequently.

Small Group and Independent Seatwork

• Provide instructions for independent seatwork before small group work begins
• Begin small group instruction only after independent seatwork is going smoothly
• Build natural stopping points within the small group lesson
• Praise on-task independent workers while teaching the small group lesson 
Encourage rather than punish

Transitions:
• Prepare all materials in advance and place them where they will be used
• Provide a signal to notify students of time remaining until transition

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• Gain student attention before the transition occurs
• Give instructions on how to make the transition and the expectations for behavior
• Use positive reinforcement
• Use corrective procedures

Quiet-Time Strategy
Step 1. Require students to stop what they are doing immediately.
Step 2. Require students to remain quiet.
Step 3. Maintain quiet time for 1 or 2 minutes.
Step 4. Remind students of rules and expectations for the current task.
Step 5. Have the students resume the previous task.
Step 6. Use reinforcement to maintain appropriate behavior.

Time-Out from Positive Reinforcement

Step 1. Define the behaviors that will result in time-out being implemented.
Step 2. Decide the location of the time-out area.
Step 3. Implement the time-out procedure calmly.
Step 4. Determine the length of the time-out period.
Step 5. Require the student to make up any work missed during the time-out.
Step 6. When the student is out of the time-out area, reinforce appropriate behavior.
Project Work Method

The project method is an educational enterprise in which children solve a practical problem for
several days or weeks. It may involve building a rocket, designing a playground, or publishing a
class newspaper. The projects may be suggested by the teacher, but they are planned and
executed as far as possible by the students themselves, individually or in groups. Project work
focuses on applying, not imparting, specific knowledge or skills, and on improving student
involvement and motivation to foster independent thinking, self-confidence, and social
responsibility.

Principles of project method

Five major principles can be identified from the foregoing discussion on the nature of the project
method. They are as follows:

1. Freedom – The desire that a student may have for embarking on a project must not be
forced on him. It must be the willingness of the learner so that the students can express
themselves freely. The student should not be subjected to any restrictions, obstructions, and
impositions in thought and expression.

2. Reality – Education must be a process that deals with real-life situations. The learning
process becomes very meaningful if it is linked with the life situations which interest the learner.

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3. Experience – Experience is gained when the students undertake a variety of activities
that are closely related to his interest. Students come face to face with real-life situations and get
first-hand information through the experience that is offered in project work.

4. Activity Involvement- Students, more especially the young ones, find it difficult by
nature to stay still without indulging in any activity. In the planning of any teaching and learning
process, one must be guided by this natural ability, so that they become active participants. In the
project, the student is involved actively both mentally and physically to ensure effective learning.

5. Purpose- An awareness of the purpose or objective of embarking upon a learning

experience not only serves as a great stimulus but also enhances the students’ chances of
achieving their potentials. It is common knowledge that interest cannot arouse aimless and
meaningless activities. This project method ensures that purposeful and worthwhile activities are
undertaken by students.

Steps in the project process

1. Creating a congenial atmosphere: It is not educationally sound to force a project on students

who are not prepared for it. It is best to allow this student the chance to state, define, and select
what they intend to do within the prescribed content.

2. Selecting and Purposing: Purposing is very essential because the project agreed upon must
be such that it is capable of satisfying a definite need or purpose. The purpose as far as
possible must be that which is widely accepted by the students.

3. Planning: Planning is the next thing which the students have to grapple with after a consensus
has been reached on the choice of the project. The teacher has to draw the attention of students
to the need to plan before they embark upon any activity.

4. Carrying out the Plan: Students have to work on the materials needed for the project.

5. Self-Evaluation: The work must be reviewed when it is completed. In the evaluation of their
work, the students should be guided to state the benefits that they have derived from the
project.

6. Documentation: There is the need to record all the activities which have been undertaken in
the project. The details of the various steps or strategies adopted should be properly
documented.

Advantages of the project method

1. Since the emphasis is on doing by the student, an opportunity is provided to develop his
initiative as well as a greater understanding of how to learn.

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2. Motivation to work is high it is based on the natural interests of students. It thus offers an
opportunity for creative ability, particularly for especially talented students.

3. It gives students specific areas to work on sometimes with the acquisition of some new skills
and attitudes.

4. Group projects afford opportunities for developing leadership and organizing abilities.

5. A source of redeemer (catharsis) for the low achiever: Usually students who are low
achievers find it difficult to work in situations where abstract thinking dominates. They are
most at home with concrete and practical situations which keep them busy. The project
method, therefore, provides a great opportunity for the student who is a low achiever, to
participate in practical learning situations which gives the much needed intrinsic motivation.

6. Enhances problem-solving: The project method provides the students the opportunity of
learning, how to solve problems. The problem techniques are critical thinking, planning,
looking for information, formulating intelligent guesses, and arriving at generalization.

Disadvantages/difficulties/demerits

1. Projects are very time-consuming and what is ultimately learned may not justify the expense,
efforts, and time put in to complete the project. Many a time projects do not take into
consideration the tenets of examinations and the scope of the curriculum. Frequent use of
this method will compromise the covering of the curriculum for a stipulated time and this
may adversely affect students’ performance if the regulations of the examination are tied
with the scope of the curriculum.

2. Student often gets sidetracked particularly if they lack a good grasp of facts necessary in
carrying out the projects.

3. It is difficult to choose a project that will interest all the students in the class at one time.

4. Some students may not participate in the project work at all.

5. Lack of competent teachers: The nature of the project demands the service of efficient
resourceful and very knowledgeable teachers in the use of the method. The method demands
a great deal of preparation on the part of the teacher and the responsibility which he bears is
so great that many teachers shy away from the use of the method. Very few teachers have the
confidence and competence in using the method.

6. Lack of Requisite Textbooks: The project method makes considerable use of materials
from many sources such as magazines, newspapers, periodicals, etc.

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Textbooks are usually written in one subject area hence they are woefully inadequate in the
information for conducting an effective project which usually relies on information from varied
sources and various areas and disciplines.

Field Work/ Fieldtrip.

This method involves taking learners on an excursion outside the classroom to make the relevant
observation to obtain technological and vocational information.

These are also visits to educational sites or places to complement learning which is done in the
classroom. There are variations in the duration of fieldwork. Fieldwork may last only half an
hour, another two hours and another had a day and another the whole day. Others may be of a
week or two weeks duration. The duration of fieldwork depends on the objectives and the
amount of work entailed.

Various types of phenomena can be studied through the fieldwork method. The phenomena
selected for study can be of economic, historical, geographical, and cultural importance.

The phenomena of economic importance may be market places, shops, supermarkets, factories,
and workshops.

Places of historical importance may be monuments, tombs, castles, forts, museums. Phenomena
of geographical interests may be a valley, a mountain, a volcano, etc

Places of cultural importance could be mosques, cathedrals, churches, and shrines.

Types of Fieldtrips

There are two types of fieldwork trips. They are Structured and Unstructured field trips or
experiences. In the structured field trip, students are aware of what definite tasks they have to
perform in the field and this follows a laid down procedure.

In the Unstructured field trip, the teacher prompts the student to indicate any phenomenon which
is of interest to them and they would like to study. By consensus, the students end up, choosing
one phenomenon. The teacher then asks them to choose any materials and equipment which they
think will facilitate the study they intend to undertake. This may not necessarily follow a laid
down procedure.

Preparation before the Trip

First and foremost, the teacher must take a visit or two to the phenomenon to be studied when
certain issues or facts are omitted.

The teacher has to inform the head of the institution well ahead of time when the fieldwork will
take place. The teacher then informs his students of the impending fieldwork.

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The teacher will have visited more than one phenomenon preferably three then students will have
the opportunity to choose the one in which they are most interested. The teacher also has to
inform colleagues of the impending fieldwork, more especially those whose time may be taken
up.

It is also necessary that the teacher acquaint himself with official regulations, which govern
taking students out for fieldwork. He should as a necessity, try to go by the regulations strictly.
He must also have to arrange for transport, boarding, and possible accommodation.

Pre-Fieldwork

Steps in Organizing a Structured Fieldtrip

1. The teacher introduces the phenomenon in the fieldwork through a lead lesson e.g. Video
show. The lead lesson is meant to expose the students to the nature of the fieldwork, the task
involved to arouse pupils’ interest.

2. Inform the headteacher of your impending visit with the pupils and discuss the objective and
the modalities for the trip. Upon approval by the head

3. Call for PTA meeting and discuss matters with them

4. Write officially to the education office. Because you are traveling with people’s children and
anything can happen.

5. Write to the visiting site and confirm the date with the headteacher.

6. Finally inform the office of the date and the arrangement put in place to ensure the safety of
the pupils.

7. To board the bus have a count and know the number of pupils embarking on the journey.

As soon as students assemble in the school for the fieldwork, there should be a headcount. The
teacher in consultation with the group should make sure that they have not left behind any
material, which they should use in the field.

When the teacher and the students get to the field, the teacher selects a place where all the
students will have to report after their study. The teacher should let the students know the
duration of the time within which they are expected to complete the work. He must also send a
note of warning to the students about how they are expected to behave towards people if it is a
place of work.

The activities which students perform in the field may vary.

Fieldwork Activities

1. Pupils are expected to ask questions

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2. Pupils are expected to take note

Post Fieldwork Activities

From the field, pupils may get back into the groups to plan how the data collected in the field
should be organized and presented.

1. Group discussion of the lessons learned

2. Report writing and documentation.

Advantages of the Fieldwork Method

1. It allows the students to engage fully in the activities of the study.

2. It sharpens the students’ observational abilities.

3. It helps to add reality to and verify how the areas of coverage operate in practice.

4. Fieldtrip is useful in developing all senses of the students.

5. It provides an opportunity for students to identify ways of spending leisure time profitably.

6. Things that cannot be brought to the classroom can be observed and studied e.g. oceans

7. Through direct contact with different occupations provided by field trips students learn and
develop an appreciation of the “world” of work outside of the school about schoolwork.

8. Experience gained during a field trip can motivate students to read about what they have
observed, to harmonize actual field experiences with information gathered from a textbook.

9. It exposes the student to real-world situations, which are unmatched to other classrooms
behind learning situations.

10. Through observation, the students discover new ideas.

11. It eliminates abstract thinking and encourages practical activity.

12 Through the method, students can think critically.

13 The students through this method learn to acquire the skills of locating and gathering
information through interviews and observations.

Advantages of the fieldwork method

1. It allows the students to engage fully in the activities of the study.

2. It sharpens the students’ observational abilities.

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3. It helps to add reality to and verify how the area of coverage operates in practice.

4. Fieldtrip is useful in developing all senses of the students.

5. It provides an opportunity for students to identify ways of spending leisure time profitably.

6. Things that cannot be brought to the classroom can be observed and studied e.g. oceans

7. Through direct contact with different occupations provided by field trips students learn and
develop an appreciation of the “world” of work outside of the school about schoolwork.

8. Experience gained during a fieldtrip can motivate students to read about what they have
observed, to harmonize actual field experiences with information gathered from textbooks.

9. It exposes the student to real-world situations, which are unmatched to other classrooms
behind learning situations.

10. Through observation, the students discover new ideas.

11. It eliminates abstract thinking and encourages practical activity.

12 Through the method, students can think critically.

13 The students through this method learn to acquire the skills of locating and gathering
information through interviews and observations.

Demerits

1. Arranging a good fieldtrip necessitates careful planning. Not only does it consume a
considerable amount of time, but transportation arrangements.

2. Many teachers lack the skills to organize fieldwork

3. It is usually costly to be undertaken more especially when the phenomenon for the study is far
away from the school.

4. The method can sometimes throw the programme out of gear.

5. Many people, more especially, parents think it exposes students to many hazards

Demonstration

The word demonstration means to give demos or to perform the activity or concept. In the
demonstration method, the teaching-learning process is carried systematically. Demonstration
often occurs when students have a hard time connecting theories to actual practice or when
students are unable to understand applications of theories. To make the success of the
demonstration method, three things are necessary.

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The object being displayed during the demonstration should not be so small.

During the demonstration, clear language should be used so that pupils may understand the
concept easily.

The pupils should be able to question teachers to remove their difficulties.

Characteristic of Demonstration Method

1 The demonstration should be done simply.

2 In this strategy, attention is paid to all students.

3 The goals and objections of the demonstration are very clear.

4 It is a well-planned strategy.

5 Time is given for rehearsal before the demonstration.

STEPS OF DEMONSTRATION METHOD

There are six steps in the demonstration process.

1 Planning and preparation

Proper planning is required for a good demonstration. The following points should be kept in
mind.

• Through the Preparation of Subject Matter.

• Lesson Planning
• Collection of Material Related to the Demonstration  Rehearsal of
Demonstration.
To ensure the success of the demonstration, the teacher should prepare lessons minutely and very
seriously.

2 Introducing the lesson

The teacher should motivate students and prepare them mentally for the demonstration. The
teacher should introduce the lesson to students keeping in mind the following things.

• Individual Differences
• Environment
• Experiences
• The Lesson Can Also Be Started with Some Simple and Interesting Experiments.
Very Common Event or Some Internal Story.

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• The experiment should be able to hold the attention of students.
(3) Presentation of subject matter

• In the demonstration, the presentation of the subject matter is very important.

• The principle of reflecting thinking should be kept in mind.
• The teacher should teach the student in such a way that their previous knowledge
can be attached to their new knowledge.
4 Demonstrations

The performance in the demonstration table should be ideal for the student.

The demonstration should be neat and clean.

5 Teaching Aids

The teacher can use various teaching aids like models, blackboards, graphs, etc. During
the demonstration.
6 Evaluations

In this last step, the evaluation of the whole demonstration should be done, so that it can be made
more effective.

Merits of Demonstration Method

1 It helps a student in having a deeper understanding of the topic.

2 It helps students remain active in the teaching-learning process.

3 It leads to permanent learning.

4 It accounts for the principles of reflective thinking.

5 It helps to create interest for topics among students.

6 It helps in arousing the spirit of discovery among students.

7 It imparts maximum learning to students.

Demerits

1. Students cannot benefit from direct and personal experiences as teachers carry out the
demonstration.

2. It can be costly as it requires costly materials.

3. It can be a time-consuming method. 4. It is not based on learning by doing.

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5. This method does not provide training for the scientific method.

6. There is a lack of experienced teachers to carry out the

Meaning of Dramatization

The Word ‘Drama’ means ‘to act or to do’. In dramatizing, an individual attempts to act or do, as
somebody else has acted or is expected to act, at a certain time, in a certain place and situation.

In Dramatization, Children’s plays the roles of the personalities in history. When a child plays the
role of Ashoka, he has to feel like the character and to a degree, he must have become the
character. Other Persons feel the character is a real Ashoka. Thus, dramatization is the only way
of making historical experiences real. This is the only way of learning by doing in history.

Types of Dramatization

There are of two types demonstration:

Extempore Dramatization: Instruction without prior preparations is imparted to the

children in the class through this method. This process develops the power of thinking
and imagination of the pupils.
Prepared Dramatization: In this type of dramatization preparations are made beforehand.
Students memorize dialogues and act according to instructions. It helps the students to
learn the art of preparations of dialogue and to acquire the habit of learning. They can
also memorize things.

Kinds of Dramatization

A. Full-length play: A full-length play is vivid and realistic. It gives a full representation of a
whole scheme to be presented in the classroom. The whole idea of the topic, the emotional
situation, happenings, etc, can be presented to the students in a natural way. It takes hours to
perform. For its success, a professional standard is required. Detailed preparations and rehearsal
are very much essential in a full-length play.

B. Class Dramatization: A good history teacher can undertake certain informal

dramatizations inside the classroom to make his teaching effective and natural. He may
dramatize only a part of a lesson.

Preparation: While preparing a lesson on Buddhism the teacher may make some provisions for
dramatizing the caste restrictions and the bloody sacrifices that were prevalent among the
Brahminical Hindus during the pre- Buddhist era. He may also plan the good episodes to be
dramatized in the classroom.

Presentation: A teacher may present a lesson on Buddhism by asking one student to play the role
of Buddha and the other students to come in batches to receive the sermons from Buddha.

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Application: The application of the lesson on Muhammed Thuhluk can be dramatized with a
scene where Muhammed Thuhluk fails to control the rebellion in the provinces. An Application
of a lesson on the parliament of India can be dramatized enacting a mock parliament

Advantages of Dramatization

• Through Dramatization, we can develop the creative instincts of the children.

• It helps in the proper utilization of the knowledge and activities of the children.
• It provides a change to the students from the formal and rigid atmosphere of the
classroom and the reading of books.
• It is psychological to help in developing the power of the learning of the students.
It provides them an opportunity to acquire knowledge through activity.
• It has to develop the power of self creativeness and activity.
• It also helps them to develop the power of sympathy and imagination.
• The power of observation also develops through this method.
• It provides education along with precaution.
• The students develop the art of speaking while developing self-confidence and the
power of understanding.
• It also develops in the students the power of appreciation and aesthetic sense.
• In the lower classes, it is easy to teach history to students through this method in
an effective manner.
Disadvantages of Dramatization

• Lack of Knowledge in the art of Dramatizations: Dramatization requiressome

technical knowledge. Every teacher does not process it.
• The apprehension of indiscipline: While dramatization is going on, the teacher
can't maintain rigid discipline in the classroom.
• Economic factor: Implementation of the technique of dramatization requires
money. Several institutions are not rich enough to provide so much money for the
teaching of one subject.
• Difficult Enacting: Certain events of history are difficult to enact. it is difficult to
enact successfully the scene of war.
• The problem of Dialogue: In employing this technique, it is necessary to have
good dialogues. Writing good dialogue requires aptitude as well as time. Every
teacher of history can't do it successfully.
Problem Solving

Meaning and Definition of Problem solving method

Problem–solving may be a purely mental difficulty or it may be physical and involve

manipulation of data. Problem-solving is the ability to identify and solve problems by applying
appropriate skills systematically.
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Problem-solving is a process—an ongoing activity in which we take what we know to discover
what we don’t know. It involves overcoming obstacles by generating hypotheses, testing those
predictions, and arriving at satisfactory solutions.

Aggarwal (1982) opined that it is a method in which a person uses his ability to solve problems
that confront him. A problem is a state of affairs viewed with dissatisfaction. A solution is called
for the reverse of the situation or to provide an understanding or insight into the problem. The
ability to combine previously learned principles, procedures, knowledge, and cognitive strategies
uniquely within a domain of content to solve encountered problems.

Objectives of Problem-Solving: The specific objectives of problem-solving in science are:

• Willingness to try problems and improve their perseverance when solving

problems.
• Improve pupils’ self-concepts concerning the abilities to solve problems.
• Make pupils aware of the problem-solving strategies.
• Make pupils aware of the value of approaching problems systematically.
• Make pupils aware that many problems can be solved in more than one way.
• Improve pupils’ abilities to select appropriate solution strategies.
• Improve pupils’ abilities to implement solution strategies accurately.
• Improve pupils’ abilities to get more correct answers to problems
• The appreciation of the existence of a problem and a desire to solve it  The
accumulation of the facts and data which are pertinent to the problem.
• Logical interpretation of the data supported by adequate valid experience.
Procedural steps of Problem solving method

The procedural steps can be divided into three phases

Pre-active /planning phase

Active / Execution phase Post-
active/Evaluation phase The Pre-active /
planning phase include:

Defining the problem:

The system. Have students identify the system under study by interpreting the
information provided in the problem statement. Drawing a diagram is a great way to do
this.
Known(s) and concepts. List what is known about the problem, and identify the
knowledge needed to understand (and eventually) solve it.
Unknown(s). Identifying the unknown(s) becomes simpler. One unknown is generally
the answer to the problem, but there may be other unknowns. Be sure that students
understand what they are expected to find.

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Units and symbols. Select, interpret, and use units and symbols. Emphasize the use of
units whenever applicable. Develop a habit of using appropriate units and symbols
yourself at all times.

Constraints. Teach students to look for the words only, must, neglect, or assume to help
identify the constraints. Active / Execution phase

The following are the general procedural steps in the Execution phase:

Step one

Selection of the Problem and Presentation of the Problem: Several problems are confronted by
the students in the class or outside. They are made to select a problem as per their capacity and
interest.

Each student is made to feel responsible for presenting the problem in front of the teacher and
class as per his insight. The students are free to give their suggestions on the problem. Diagnose
the situation so that your focus is on the problem.

Step two

Generation of alternative solutions: All the facts related to the problem are collected either by a
student or a group. As many facts will be collected, it will help the students to keep the most
pertinent facts and discard the rest.

Step three

Generate alternative solutions: Postpone the selection of one solution until several alternatives
have been proposed. Having a standard with which to compare the characteristics of the final
solution is not the same as defining the desired outcome. Considering multiple alternatives can
significantly enhance the value of the final solution. Many alternative solutions should be
generated before evaluating any of them. A common mistake in problem-solving is that
alternatives are evaluated as they are proposed, so the first desired solution is chosen, even if it’s
not the best fit.

Step four

Evaluate and select an alternative: Skilled problem solvers use a series of considerations when
selecting the best alternative. They consider the extent to which:

A particular alternative will solve the problem without causing other unanticipated problems.

All the individuals involved will accept the alternative.

Implementation of the alternative is likely.

The alternative fits within the organizational constraints.

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Step five

Implement and follow up on the solution: This is the most important phase as a proper outline at
this stage will lead to purposeful activity. The teacher will guide students to draw an exact plan
and follow it properly so that the solution to the problem is reached. It is more or less like the
planning stage, wherein a clear indication of outline leads to better results. Feedback channels
must be built into the implementation of the solution, to produce continuous monitoring and
testing of actual events against expectations. Problem-solving and the techniques used to derive
elucidation can only be effective in an organization if the solution remains in place and is
updated to respond to future changes.

Post-active/Evaluation phase.

The following steps come under this phase;

Reaching the inferences and conclusions: The tentative solutions which are offered by students
are properly noted down. A good number of arrangements, discussions, brainstorming results in
reaching a satisfactory conclusion. The teacher has to be very careful at this stage as it may lead
to wrong conclusions. The discussions must be healthy and a conducive atmosphere must be
provided in the classroom for it.

The students review the entire process and find out each stage wherein they have made any
mistakes. Self-criticism and Self-realization will give training of self-confidence. The teacher
must see that objective has been achieved.

Writing the Report:

A complete report should be written by the students. This will include, how they planned, what
discussions were held, how duties were assigned, how satisfactory conclusion was reached etc.
It’s vitally important that students have multiple opportunities to assess their problem-solving
skills and the solutions they generate from using those skills. Frequently, students are overly
dependent upon teachers to evaluate their performance in the classroom. The process of self-
assessment is not easy, however. It involves risk-taking, self-assurance, and a certain level of
independence. But it can be effectively promoted by asking students questions such as “How do
you feel about your progress so far?” “Are you satisfied with the results you obtained?” and
“Why do you believe this is an appropriate response to the problem?

Merits of Problem solving method

• Knowledge Retention: Problem-based learning is practical and it requires

participants to use their reasoning and problem-solving skills to resolve the
scenarios they are presented with. As a result, the learning process is more
effective because participants are not trying to memorize large volumes of
information.

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• Develops Competencies: This method follows the principle of learning by doing.
Problem-based learning is a collaborative method that fosters teamwork, diversity,
and mutual respect, which are invaluable competencies in the workplace.
• Context-Specific: In schools, problem-based learning may be limited in its
effectiveness because it is highly context-specific. During the learning process,
participants are given a specific problem that is based on a foreseeable work
scenario. They learn to use old facts in new references.
• The method is scientific: Develops good study habits and reasoning power, helps
to improve and apply knowledge and experiences, and stimulates the thinking of
the child.
• Develops desirable study habits in the students.
• Develops qualities of initiative and self-dependence in the students: Students
learn virtues such as patience, cooperation, and self-confidence. Learning
becomes more interesting and purposeful.
• Develops qualities of initiative and self-dependence in the students, as they have
to face similar problematic situations in real life too. Shared responsibility makes
individuals more willing to take risks. The discussion of different points of view
also helps the group to be more realistic in assessing the risks associated with
particular courses of action.
• Reduced bias: The shared responsibility of a group in arriving at decisions can.
Encourage individuals to explore seemingly unrealistic ideas and to challenge
accepted ways of doing things. Individual biases and prejudices can be challenged
by the group, forcing the individual to recognize them. Group pressure can also
encourage individuals to accept that change is needed.
• Better solutions: Groups of individuals can bring a broad range of ideas,
knowledge, and skills to bear on a problem. This creates a stimulating interaction
of diverse ideas which results in a wider range and better quality of solutions. .
They become capable to generalize. Students learn to find a solution to their
problems. When people who are affected by a problem or who will be involved in
implementation are involved in finding a solution, they will know how and why
that particular solution was chosen. Also, people with knowledge relevant to the
problem can communicate that knowledge directly if they participate in solving
the problem (Ormrod, 2008).
Limitations of the problem-solving method.

• Difficult to teach all topics of curriculum- Difficult to organize e- contents of

syllabus according to this method. All topics and areas cannot be covered by this
method. There is a lack of suitable books and references for the students. This is
not suitable for all level students. The method does not suit students of lower
classes. Mental activity dominates this method. Hence there is the neglect of
physical and practical experiences.

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• Can encourage dirty competition- Most people working in a group unconsciously
perceive the situation as competitive. This generates behaviour that is destructive
and drains the creative energy of the group. The natural reaction is to regain self-
esteem, often by trying to sabotage the ideas of those who disagreed with us.
Instead of looking for ways to improve on their ideas we choose to destroy them.
These types of behaviour create an atmosphere that is incompatible with effective
problem-solving.
• Possible lack of effective direction- Sometimes there is no effective teacher to
give direction to the discussion, with the result that it wanders. There is a shortage
of talented teachers to practice this method. There is always a doubt of drawing
wrong conclusions.
• Time and resource constraints- Problem-solving is a relatively slow process. It is
not economical from a time and money point of view. Time-consuming method.
Discovery Learning Method

Discovery learning is a kind of teaching that is based on the student finding things out for
themselves, looking into problems, and asking questions. Essentially, it's all about students
coming to their conclusions and asking about things in their course that might not make
particular sense. As soon as enquiries are made, they can learn new things and hence will have
become part of an innovative, thought-provoking, and interesting educational journey.

The Discovery method is a teaching strategy that enables students to find the answers
themselves. It is a learner-centered approach hence it is called a heuristic method. It is of two
types notably, the guided and unguided discovery. In the guided discovery, the teacher guides the
student to discover for themselves solutions to be given problems by providing them with general
principles, but not the solutions to the scientific problem. The unguided discovery type involves
the students discovering for themselves both the general principles and solution to a scientific
problem. It is sometimes called pure discovery

Discovery learning can also be defined as the learning that takes place when students are not
given or presented with the subject matter in its final form but are required to organize it
themselves.

Characteristics of Discovery Learning

1. Pure discovery – Here, students are given a topic or problem to work on and are free to
explore the topic with a minimum of guidelines or suggestions by the teacher.

2. Guided Discovery – Here, students are not only given a topic but are also provided with
materials to work with and suggestions on procedures to follow, but they arrive at any conclusion
themselves.

3. Guided learning – The teacher leads the students through a carefully planned sequence
of activities to arrive at the learning object, using either statement or questions.

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Discovery Learning Process

• Define the problem to be investigated

• Clarify the objectives to be achieved by the learners.
• Relate the problems of study to what is known or to some real-life problems to
heighten interest.
• Consider any related factors
• Propose initial guesses/hypotheses or suggested lines of attachment.
• Collect information to test the guesses
• Evaluate and organize the data/information they have assembled.
• Interpret their findings.
Advantages of Discovery Method

1. Since the method poses a challenge for the student to discover the information or knowledge
for himself, retention of any information or knowledge so discovered will be increased.

2. The learning acquired in finding out things for oneself independently can be applied to new
learning and problem-solving.

3. The joy in discovering something provides the students with intrinsic motivation.

4. Discovery method brings home to pupils their notions of the nature of scientific evidence
students learned that answers to questions can often be obtained from investigations they can
carry out for themselves.

5. Discovery method helps students develop manipulative skills and attitudes which constitute
one of the fundamental obje4ctives of science teaching.

6. It promotes a better understanding of the learning situation.

7. The students are actively engaged in the processes of acquiring knowledge instead of being
passive listeners.

8. Students are taught concept or principles which are more easily remembered than isolated
facts.

9. Students are more interested in and remember better things they have found out for
themselves. It does promote the transfer of knowledge.

10. It increases learner’s self-confidence and reliance on their intelligence and capacity to learn.

Disadvantages of Discovery Method

1. Discovery method is time-consuming and progress is comparatively slow. Apparatus have to

be set up and the results of the investigation waited.

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2. The method leaves open the possibility of not discovering anything. Students may end up
discovering things other than what was intended to be discovered. This could be highly
demoralizing to them particularly if a great effort has been expended.

3. The method is expensive considering the equipment and materials needed.

4. Discovery method is only good for a small class where effective teacher suppertime is
possible.

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UNIT FIVE

USING QUESTIONING AND TALK FOR LEARNING APPROACHES

What is the questioning technique?

The interaction between teacher and learners is the most important feature of the classroom.
Whether helping learners to acquire basic skills or a better understanding to solve problems, or to
engage in higher-order thinking such as evaluation, questions are crucial. Of course, questions
may be asked by students as well as teachers: they are essential tools for both teaching and
learning.

Questioning in teaching is that verbal communication or interaction that goes on during the
teaching and learning process between the teacher/learner, learner/teacher, and learner/learner.

Types of Questioning

Closed Questions (Aka the ‘Polar’ Question)

Closed or ‘polar’ questions generally invite a one-word answer, such as ‘yes’ or ‘no’. For
example, ‘do you drive?’ or, ‘did you take my pen?’ They could also include answers to factual
or multiple-choice questions, such as ‘what’s your name’, or ‘would you like tea, coffee, or
water?’

They’re popular as icebreaker questions in group situations because they’re easy to answer. Of
course, most questions can be opened up for further discussion, including closed questions — but
more on that later.

Open Questions

Open-ended questions require a little more thought and generally encourage wider discussion
and elaboration. They can’t be answered with a simple yes or no response. For example: ‘what
do you think of your boss?’ Or ‘why did you choose that car?’

Probing Questions

These questions are useful for gaining clarification and encouraging others to tell you more
information about a subject. Probing questions are usually a series of questions that dig deeper
and provide a fuller picture. For example: ‘when do you need the finished project, and is it ok if I
email it to you?’

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Leading Questions

These questions are designed to lead the respondent towards a certain desired positive or
negative route.

In the workplace, you might encounter leading questions such as: ‘do you have any issues with
the project?’, or ‘did you enjoy working on that project?’ The former subtly prompts the
respondent towards a negative response; the latter towards a positive. Asking ‘how did you get
on with that project’ will get you a more balanced answer.

Leading questions could also involve an appeal at the end that’s designed to coerce the
respondent into agreeing with the speaker. For example, ‘this project is going well, isn’t it?’
encourages the respondent to say ‘yes’. This works particularly well because psychologically, we
prefer saying yes over no. So when we’re put on the spot, we’ll usually opt for the former.

Loaded Questions

Loaded questions are seemingly straightforward, closed questions — with a twist: they contain
an assumption about the respondent. They’re famously used by lawyers and journalists to trick
their interviewee into admitting a fundamental truth they would otherwise be unwilling to
disclose.

For example, the question: ‘have you stopped stealing pens?’ assumes the respondent stole a pen
more than once. Whether she answers yes or no, she will admit to having stolen pens at some
point. Of course, the preferred response would be: ‘I have never stolen a pen in my life’ but it’s
not always easy to spot the trap. These questions are quite rightly seen as manipulative.

Funnel Questions

As with a funnel, these questions begin broadly before narrowing to a specific point — or vice
versa. When meeting someone new, we usually begin with specific, closed questions, such as
‘what’s your name?’ and ‘what do you do?’ – before broadening out into more open-ended
questions, such as ‘why did you choose to be a firefighter?’ as you become more comfortable
talking to each other.

The reverse — beginning with a broad question before honing in on something specific — is
often used when questioning witnesses to gain the maximum amount of information about a
person or situation. For example, ‘what do you do for a living? Do you work nights? Did you see
a break-in? Was there more than one person?’ And so on.

Funnel questions can also be used to diffuse tension: asking someone to go into detail about their
issue distracts them from their anger and gives you the information you need to offer them a

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solution, which in turn calms them down and makes them think something positive is being done
to help them.

Recall and process questions

Recall questions require the recipient to remember a fact. For example, ‘what are seven times
seven?’ and ‘where did you put the keys?’ or ‘What’s your login password?’ Process questions,
on the other hand, require the respondent to add their own opinion to their answer. These types of
questions can be used to test the respondent’s depth of knowledge about a particular topic. For
example: ‘what are the advantages of asking a closed question?’ or ‘why are you the right person
to lead this project?’

Rhetorical questions

These are a different beast altogether because they don’t require an answer. They’re simply
statements phrased as questions to make the conversation more engaging for the listener, who is
drawn into agreeing with you.

For example, ‘isn’t it nice working with such a friendly team?’ is more engaging than ‘this team
is friendly’, which doesn’t require any mental participation from the respondent.

Rhetorical questions are often used by coaches or public speakers for effect to get the audience
thinking and agreeing. In this way, they’re a not-too-distant cousin of the leading question.

Principles of questioning

There are five principles for effective questioning

1. Plan to use questions that encourage thinking and reasoning effective questions are
planned. It is helpful to plan sequences of questions that build on and extend students’ thinking.
A good questioner, of course, remains flexible and allows time to follow up responses.
Beginning an inquiry What do you already know that might be useful
here?

What sort of diagram might be helpful?

Can you invent a simple notation for this?

How can you simplify this problem?

What is known and what is unknown?

What assumptions might we make?

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Progressing with an inquiry Where have you seen something like this
before?

What is fixed here, and what can we change?

What is the same and what is different here?

What would happen if I changed this... to

this...?

Is this approach going anywhere?

What will you do when you get that answer?

This is just a special case of ... what?

Can you form any hypotheses?

Can you think of any counterexamples?

What mistakes have we made?

Can you suggest a different way of doing this?

What conclusions can you make from this data?

How can we check this calculation without

doing it all again?

What is a sensible way to record this?

Interpreting and evaluating the results of an How can you best display your data?
inquiry
Is it better to use this type of chart or that one?
Why?

What patterns can you see in this data?

What reasons might there be for these patterns?

Can you give me a convincing argument for

that statement?

Do you think that answer is reasonable? Why?

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How can you be 100% sure that is true?
Convince me!

What do you think of Anne’s argument? Why?

Which method might be best to use here? Why?

Communicating conclusions and reflecting What method did you use?

What other methods have you considered?

Which of your methods was the best? Why?

Which method was the quickest?

Where have you seen a problem like this

before?

What methods did you use last time? Would

they have worked here?

What helpful strategies have you learned for

next time?
2. Ask questions in ways that include everyone. Everyone must be included in thinking
about the questions asked. Here are three ways that teachers have tried to achieve this:

• Use a ‘no hands up’ rule. After a few hands have gone up some students stop thinking
because they know that the teacher will not ask them. When students have their hands up
they too stop thinking as they already have the answer they want. ‘No hands up’
encourages everyone to keep thinking as anyone may be called upon to respond.
• Ask questions that encourage a range of responses. Rather than asking for specific
right answers, ask for ideas and suggestions: “How can we get started on this?”, “What
do you notice about this? ”Everyone will then be able to offer a response.
• Avoid teacher-student -teacher-student ‘ping pong’. Encourage students to listen to
and to reply to each other’s responses. Aim for a pattern more like teacher-student A -
student B -student C –teacher.
• Arrange the room to encourage participation. Think about where students are sitting –
are there some who cannot hear? Can students see and hear one another so that they can
respond to the points another student makes? It is often better to sit students in a U-shape,
if possible.

3. Give students time to think. The time interval between a teacher asking a question and
supplying the answer herself, or following up with an additional question or comment, is
commonly called ‘waits time’. For many teachers, the mean wait time is less than one second

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(Rowe (1974)1). When teachers increase this wait time to between three and five seconds the
research shows that students begin to:

• respond at greater length and with greater confidence;

• offer more unsolicited, but appropriate, responses;
• offer more diverse, alternative explanations;  Relate responses to those from other
students.

4. Avoid judging students’ responses Interestingly, Rowe (1974) found that if a teacher
made judgmental comments, even positive ones such as “Well done!”, then this negatively
affected students ‘verbal performance even with the lengthened wait times. Task persistence was
greatest where verbal rewards were fewer. When a teacher judges every response with ‘yes’,
‘good’, ‘nearly ‘and so on, students are likely to reason to themselves: “The teacher said that was
good. That is not what I was going to say. So what I was going to say cannot be good. So I won't
say anything. ”Ask open questions that permit a greater variety of responses and reply to students
with comments that do not close off alternative ideas. “Thank you for that, that is interesting.
What other ideas do people have?”

5. Follow up students’ responses in ways that encourage deeper thinking. The following
approaches encourage further thinking and dialogue:
Ask students to repeat their explanation Can you just say that again?
Invite students to elaborate Can you just say a little more about that
Challenge students to offer a reason Can you explain why that works?
Cue alternative responses Can you suggest another way of doing this?
Support with non-verbal interest Nod head, rotate the hand to indicate that you
want more …..
Encourage students to speculate. What would happen if …..?
Make challenging statements Someone in this group said ... were they
right?
Allow rehearsal of responses Try out the answer to your partner first.
Encourage students to ask questions Would anyone like to ask Pat a question about
that?
Ask students to think aloud Can you go through that step by step?
Encourage students to make connections Can you remember something else we did
like this...?
Thinking aloud with students Let’s think this through together ...
Uses of Questioning

• Questions are used to initiate discussions, solve problems, give information, explain
concepts, and analyze issues among many others.

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• Questions help students or learners to develop listening skills and keep them focused
during lesson presentations.
• Questions serve as a good introduction to the lesson and keep learners alert
• Questions help to motivate learners. The learners get to know that, they are part of the
learning process, and their contributions are worthwhile.
• Questioning gives the teacher the ability to know the learners' previous knowledge on a
given subject and helps the teacher to have a good judgment of the class he/she teaches
• Questioning is a way of brainstorming and makes way for learners to make research and
keep them busy Talk for Learning Approaches

What is talk for learning?

Talk for learning means encouraging student teachers to engage in their learning through talking.
The talk should be meaningful and enable student teachers to progress from recall and
memorization to thinking and understanding, analysis, and creativity.

Why Use Talk for Learning in your Teaching?

Education research has shown that talking purposely is an effective tool for learning. For
example, in the Education Endowment Foundation’s teaching and learning toolkit, ‘oral language
interventions’ has one of the highest impacts for low cost, based on extensive research evidence.
Some of the reasons for this are that talk for learning can help you to:

• Develop an understanding. It is even argued that the mind is actually structured as

language and so talking for learning activities supports your mind in making sense and
developing understanding. Verbalizing your thinking means you have to organize your
thoughts and you have to become actively involved.
• Learn through social interaction because it requires you to interact and talk about what
you are thinking with one another in a specific learning context. Questions can be posed,
ideas can be challenged and misunderstandings can be heard and corrected. In this way, it
fits with the learning theories of constructivism and social constructivism.
• Better recall of something you have been actively involved in (remembering). Talk for
Learning activities require you to do so by thinking about ideas and communicating them.
• Rehearse and express yourself in English. Talk for Learning activities allow English
Language Learning student teachers to rehearse and practice expressing themselves in
English language learning. This might involve identifying words and expressions, using
them in different contexts and phrases, and giving meaning to the words and expressions.
To learn a language effectively you need to regularly hear it, see it, read it, write it, and
practice speaking it repeatedly read it, write it, and practice speaking it repeatedly.
Teaching Strategy

Teaching Strategy Main points

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T3-1 Initiating Talk for Learning To use talk as an effective tool for
learning you need something to talk
about. This teaching strategy explores
developing activities that will encourage
good quality discussion. For example:
Talking tokens; Activity ball or magic
microphone; Think-Pair-Share;
changing partners.

T3-2 Building on What Others Say This teaching strategy explores how to
involve all student teachers in learning
from each other and to build on what is
said. For example brainstorming,
concept cartoons.

T3-3 Managing Talk for Learning This teaching strategy looks at how to
develop ways of working together and
regulating talk to help you manage to
talk for learning in your classroom. For
example think-pair-share, talking
tokens.

T3-4 Structuring Talk for Learning This teaching strategy introduces

strategies to structure the many ideas
that are being shared by your student
teachers when using talk for learning.
For example concept mapping, diamond
nine.

T3-5 Expressing Yourself With New This teaching strategy discusses

Words strategies to deal with language learning
aspects of new vocabulary in talk for
learning. This is relevant to any student-
teacher but particularly for those who
are English Language Learners (ELL).
For example talk like an expert, word
walls.

UNIT SIX

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MANAGING INCLUSIVE AND MULTIGRADE SETTINGS/CLASSROOMS
The concept and characteristics of an inclusive setting/classroom

Inclusion is ensuring access and learning for all learners especially those disadvantaged. All
learners are entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum in every school in Ghana. The daily
learning activities to which learners are exposed should ensure that the learners’ right to equal
access and accessibility to quality education is met. The Curriculum suggests a variety of
approaches that address learners’ diversity and their special needs in the learning process

Inclusive education target all students in age-appropriate general education classes in their
neighborhood schools, with high quality instruction, interventions and supports so all students
can be successful in the core curriculum. Inclusive schools have a collaborative and respectful
school culture where students with disabilities are presumed to be competent, develop positive
social relationships with peers, and are fully participating members of the school community. In
inclusive education, inclusion is an educational approach and philosophy that provides all
students with community membership and greater opportunities for academic and social
achievement. Schools and districts have a ‘zero-rejection’ policy when it comes to registering
and teaching children in their region. All children are welcomed and valued.

The main features of inclusive education include the following:

• Inclusive education acknowledges that all children can learn and that all need
some form of support for learning;
• Inclusion is about recognizing and respecting the differences among all learners
and building on the similarities.
• Inclusion is about supporting all learners, educators, and the system as a whole so
that the full range of learning needs can be met.
• The focus is on the teaching and learning actors, with the emphasis on the
development of good teaching strategies that will be of benefit to all learners.
• Inclusion focuses on overcoming barriers in the system that prevent it from
meeting the full range of learning needs.
• The focus is on the adaptation of and the support system available in the
classroom.
Who is excluded in certain circumstances from mainstream education/society?

• Persons with Hearing Impairment, Persons with Visual Impairment, Persons with
Intellectual Disability, Persons with a physical disability, Persons with Deaf-
blindness, Persons with Multiple Disabilities, Persons with Speech and
Communication disorders, Persons with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,
Gifted and Talented persons, Persons with Specific Learning Disability, Persons

with Autism, Persons with Emotional and other health impairment (asthma, etc),
Children displaced by natural catastrophes and social conflicts, Nomadic children

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(shepherd boys, fisher-folks’ children, and domestic child workers, Children
living in extreme social and economic deprivation, Children exploited for
financial purpose, Orphans and children who are not living with their biological
parents, Children living with HIV\AIDS, Behaviour Disorder and Street children
Characteristics of Effective Inclusive Classroom

Characteristics of Effective Inclusive Schools- There seems to be considerable agreement that

schools are most successful in promoting student achievement and valued post-school outcomes
when they:

• Establish high expectations for learning that are linked with a clear and focused
mission• Establish strong instructional leadership with frequent monitoring of student
progress
• Promote the values of diversity, acceptance, and belonging
• Ensure the availability of formal and natural supports within the general education
setting
• Provide services and supports in age-appropriate classrooms in neighborhood schools
• Ensure access to the general curriculum while meeting the individualized needs of each
student
• Provide a school-wide support system to meet the needs of all students Principles of
inclusive education

• All children belong

• All children learn in different ways

• It is every child’s right to be included

• Inclusion encompasses curriculum flexibility, pedagogy, infrastructural changes,

sensitization of parents and peers are the integral components of the accommodations
that schools must make.

• Initiative and commitment on part of a school must be viewed as imperative to the

successful implementation of an inclusive education programme.

• Unless a school wholeheartedly embraces the ideology of inclusion in principle and

practice, there are no guarantees for its success.

• Apart from admitting children with mild disabilities who can be educated in regular
classrooms, inclusion also addresses the needs of hundreds of children already present in
regular classrooms who are affected by mild to moderate learning difficulties which go
largely undetected and untreated.

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• These children carry the risk of becoming dropouts due to poor school performance and
may suffer from irreparable psychological and emotional trauma throughout their
growing up years besides never being able to achieve academic success.

• Poor sensitivity of stakeholders (administrators, teachers, parents, and peers) and lack of
readiness of the system become additional factors contributing to their deprivation.

• The nature of the programme should be flexible and in the form of a continuum such
that it can be adapted to suit each child’s academic and social needs.

• Schools must be cognizant of their strengths and weaknesses to adapt the guidelines
based on their institutional nature and characteristics.

Challenges for teaching inclusive classroom

1. Lacking Experience in an Inclusion Setting

Some teachers have not been exposed to special-needs classrooms, and this can be a
disadvantage. New special education teachers may find the first year to be especially difficult.
Educators need to coordinate efforts and understand the needs of the classroom in terms of
developing skills and lesson plans.

2. Lacking Experience with Severe and Profound Disabilities

Students with severe and profound disabilities require more adaptation and medical attention
than the average student. Teachers must be skilled in handling severe disabilities by creating
lesson plans based on individual abilities and adhering to each child's dietary needs. If the
teacher doesn't have sufficient experience, the child may not progress in their skills—or, in the
worst-case scenario; they could experience adverse medical incidents.

3. Creating Activities That Include All Students

Special-needs-inclusive classrooms must be able to involve all of the students in all of the
classroom activities. Teachers need to address how the students will communicate with each
other and encourage everyone's participation. If there is a lack of adaptive equipment or adaptive
communication and language tools, it makes it difficult for teachers to lead a united classroom.

4. Educating Students with Less Severe Disabilities

When there are children of all abilities in the classroom, both physical and academic, children in
the middle can easily fall between the cracks. These children might have learning disabilities,
hearing impairments, ADD, or language delays, to name a few examples. Providing the right
amount of attention and adaptation can be challenging for teachers, especially if there is a higher
teacher-to-student ratio.

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6. Not Having Enough Teacher Aides

Normally, inclusive classrooms have a regular educator and special-needs educator. Due to the
nature of the classroom and its size, it is imperative to have an appropriate number of teacher
aides to assist the teachers with day-to-day activities. But teachers often don't get the resources
they need, including teacher aides.

7. Teaching Compassion to Students

Not all students have been exposed to persons with special needs before, and this becomes a
challenge for teachers. Teachers must not tolerate insensitivity and cruelty. They must teach that
all students are to be treated with respect, regardless of ability.

8. Dealing with Parents of "Typically Developing" Students

Just like the students, some parents are not used to dealing with persons with special needs.
Teachers need to convey to parents how the classroom is conducted, and they need to reassure
parents that every student's needs will be met.

9. Addressing Individualized Lesson Plans

Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are important for helping special-needs students
succeed. Because there are varying abilities in an inclusive classroom, teachers need to balance
multiple IEPs while addressing individual academic needs based on ability.

Multi-grade Teaching

Multi-grade teaching refers to teaching more than one grade in the same classroom. This form of
teaching differs from mono-grade instruction as aspects such as lesson preparation and
assessment have to accommodate learners from different grades in the same classroom (Beukes,
2006; Taole, 2014).

The term ‘multi-grade teaching refers to teaching learners of different ages, grades, and abilities
in the same group. It is different from mono-grade teaching in which students within the same
grade are assumed to be similar in terms of age and ability. It is also different from multi-age
within-grade teaching, which occurs when there are wide variations in age within the same grade
(Brown, 2008).

Teaching students or groups having different levels of achievements in a classroom by a teacher

at the same time is called Multi-grade teaching.

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In multilevel /multi-grade teaching, a teacher teaches the content to the students of different
learning levels or skills or abilities. All learners do not possess the same level of learning ability.
As a result, a teacher applies appropriate technology, approach, technique, and learning method
to enhance the students’ achievement skills in multilevel teaching.

Arguments in support of multi-grade teaching (Advantages)

• Provides an efficient means of providing basic education in thinly populated areas, utilizing
scarce educational inputs, such as trained teachers, classrooms, and materials

• Helps in maintaining a rural school as an important centre in building village identity and
cultural life

• Promotes students to ‘learn to learn’ and ‘learn to teach’ through independent inquiry and peer
tutoring

• Promotes the social learning of students

Why do your schools need to adopt multi-grade teaching?

The following is a comprehensive list of conditions found from schools of different countries
that have been found to make multi-grade teaching a necessity.

1) Schools in areas of low population density where schools are widely scattered and
inaccessible and enrolment is low;

2) Schools that comprise a cluster of classrooms in different locations, in which some

classes are multi-grade and some, are mono-grade;

3) Schools in areas of declining population, where previously there was mono-grade

teaching, and where now, only a small number of teachers is employed;

4) Schools in areas of population growth and school expansion, where enrolment in the
expanding upper grades remains small;

5) Schools in areas where parents send their children to more popular schools within
reasonable traveling distance, leading to a decline in enrolment and fewer teachers in the less
popular school;

6) Schools in which the official number of teachers deployed justify mono-grade teaching
but where the actual number deployed is less. The inadequate deployment arises from many
reasons including the inadequate supply of teachers, teachers not reporting fully though posted to
a school, or teachers going on medical or casual leave;

7) Schools in which the number of students admitted to a class comprises more than ‘one
class group’, necessitating a combination of some of them with students in a class group of a
different grade;
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8) Schools in which teacher absenteeism is high and ‘supplementary teacher’ arrangements
are ‘non-effectual’ or ‘non-existent’.

Characteristics of Effective Multi Grade Teaching

 Well-organized
 Creative and flexible
 Willing to work hard
 Resourceful
 Self-directed
 Willing to work closely with the community
 Strong belief in the importance of cooperation and personal responsibility in the
classroom with the ability to develop these characteristics in pupils.
 Prior successful experience at the grade levels to be taught.
Challenges in a Multi Grade Classroom

Multi-grade teaching constitutes a work environment full of challenges and difficulties

(McEwan, 2008). Some of these challenges are;

Professional and Social Isolation

Professional and social isolation is one of the challenges facing teachers of multi-grade classes.
Multi-grade teaching often takes place in remote schools in difficult to reach areas. Teachers not
only face the difficulties of dealing with a multi-grade class, but also other constraints such as
lack of resources, infrequent supervision, and poor living conditions (Berry, 2001).

Parents’ Attitude towards Multi-grade Teaching

Parents’ attitude towards multi-grade teaching is another challenge faced by multi-grade teachers.
Despite the apparent utility value of parental support in the education process, it seems that
multi-grade teaching and teachers do not always find it easy to gain parents’ support. Parents’
concerns about multi-grade classes are commonly negative.

There seems to exist very little interest in multi-grade education on a global scale. Multi-grade
schools are typically regarded as being second-rate schools; schools that parents would not like
their children to go to (Juana, 2003).

Instructional Materials
Instructional materials used in the multi-grade classroom tends to be written for the mono-grade
classroom. Consequently, they are produced as grade-level textbooks and are designed to be
delivered by the teacher to the children. Brown (2008) further indicates that there is evidence to
suggest that such materials are ineffective in multi-grade teaching.

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Classroom Management
Classroom management is another problem in regards to multi-grade teaching. It was observed
that, while the educator is busy with one group, the other group would be busy with a task to
complete. This task will then be completed without the educator’s input or supervision. In most
instances, the learners do not even complete the tasks assigned to them. The teachers do not even
ask learners about the task, as it was used solely to keep them busy while the teacher or
facilitator is teaching the other group. Teachers also indicated that they use the same amount of
time to teach different grades in a class than one would use to teach just one grade (Mncube,
2012).

Other challenges include;

1. Handling of different classes simultaneously in the same room.

2. Preparation of Teaching Learning Materials for all subjects and all classes.
3. To pay individual attention to the slow learners.
4. To provide sufficient reading practice and supervise the students.
5. In a two teacher school, attending all work in the absence of one teacher.
6. To act according to the individual differences of the learners.
7. Implementing Active Based Learning (ABL), play-way method, and Learning by
doing method in the classroom.
8. Supervising activities and assignments in the class.
9. More attention to gifted learners.
10. Identify student’s difficult portion and teach them.
11. To concentrate on group activities.
12. To concentrate on Evaluation.
13. To concentrate on the allotment of activities.
14. Sufficient time preparation is to be made for the proper assessment of all students.

The Concept Classroom Management

Classroom Management refers to the wide variety of skills and techniques that teachers use to
keep students organized, orderly, focused, attentive, on task, and academically productive during
a class. When classroom-management strategies are executed effectively, teachers minimize the
behaviors that impede learning for both individual students and groups of students, while
maximizing the behaviors that facilitate or enhance learning. Generally speaking, effective
teachers tend to display strong classroom-management skills, while the hallmark of the
inexperienced or less effective teacher is a disorderly classroom filled with students who are not
working or paying attention.

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While a limited or more traditional interpretation of effective classroom management may focus
largely on “compliance” rules and strategies that teachers may use to make sure students are
sitting in their seats, following directions, listening attentively, etc. A more encompassing or
updated view of classroom management extends to everything that teachers may do to facilitate
or improve student learning, which would include such factors as behavior (a positive attitude,
happy facial expressions, encouraging statements, the respectful and fair treatment of students,
etc.), environment (for example, a welcoming, well-lit classroom filled with intellectually
stimulating learning materials that are organized to support specific learning activities),
expectations (the quality of work that teachers expect students to produce, the ways that teachers
expect students to behave toward other students, the agreements that teachers make with
students), materials (the types of texts, equipment, and other learning resources that teachers
use), or activities (the kinds of learning experiences that teachers design to engage student
interests, passions, and intellectual curiosity). Given that poorly designed lessons, uninteresting
learning materials, or unclear expectations, for example, could contribute to greater student
disinterest, increased behavioral problems, or unruly and disorganized classes, classroom
management cannot be easily separated from all the other decisions that teachers make. in this
more encompassing view of classroom management, good teaching and good classroom
management become, to some degree, indistinguishable.

Approaches for Managing Inclusive and Multi Grade Classrooms

When you have a wide range of abilities, and often ages, all together in the same room, it is not
always effective to try to teach the class as a whole in all subjects and all the time. There are
many teaching approaches that a multi-grade teacher could use. These approaches are equally as
useful in a traditional classroom of one grade level.

Whole class teaching

This is the simplest approach for the teacher. There is only one lesson to prepare and the lesson is
aimed at the average ability in the class. It is easier for you to keep an eye on the students and
keep good discipline.

Whole class teaching is still important in the multi-grade classroom, but student-centered
activities should be presented most of the time. Some activities where whole-class teaching
works well are: Storytelling and reading by the teacher

Students’ news

Introduction to lessons, where the whole class works together with the teacher, then breaks into
groups to complete activities

Modeled reading and writing by the teacher to introduce the language lesson

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Physical education, music, drama

Individualized teaching

The teacher works on a one-to-one basis with a student. The student may be working on the same
task as others or may have special work to suit the level of the student’s ability. The rest of the
class must be engaged in purposeful activity if the teacher is to focus on one student only. This
can be hard to organize if you have a lot of students in a crowded classroom. One of the common
ways teachers spend individual time with students is by hearing the student read aloud. You can
organize to hear every student read for a week if you schedule the times when the rest of the class
is working independently. You must be sure that all students at some time get your attention, not
just the ones who may be experiencing difficulties.

Small group teaching

This is the most effective way of allowing for student-centered learning at a level to meet the
needs of the student.

In the multi-grade classroom (and also the traditional classroom), there will be students of
different ages, abilities, needs, and interests. If we are catering for the needs of students in the
class, we can’t give everyone the same work to do all the time. A variety of activities, requiring
different outcomes can better cater for the individual student. Working in groups is one way to
enable students to engage in different activities at the same time.

The aim is to transform students from passive recipients to active constructors of knowledge. The
teacher creates the conditions under which students agree to take charge of their learning, both
individually and collectively.

Strategies for Managing Inclusive/Multi Grade Classroom

The following are some classroom approaches and strategies for managing inclusive/multi-grade
classroom;

Entry Routine is a technique in which teachers establish a consistent, daily routine that begins
as soon as students enter the classroom—preparing learning materials, making seat assignments,
passing in homework, or doing a brief physical “warm-up” activity would all be examples of
entry routines. This technique can avoid the disorder and squandered time that can characterize
the beginning of a class period.

Do Now is a brief written activity that students are given as soon as they arrive in the classroom.
This technique is intended to get students settled, focused, productive, and prepared for
instruction as quickly as possible.

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Tight Transitions is a technique in which teachers establish transition routines that students
learn and can execute quickly and repeatedly without much direction from a teacher. For
example, a teacher might say “reading time,” and students will know that they are expected to
stop what they are working on, put away their materials, get their books, and begin reading
silently on their own. This technique helps to maximize instructional time by reducing the
disarray and delay that might accompany transitions between activities.

Seat Signals is a technique in which students use nonverbal signals while seated to indicate that
they need something, such as a new pencil, a restroom break, or help with a problem. This
technique establishes expectations for appropriate communication and helps to minimize
disruptions during class.

Props are the act of publicly recognizing and praising students who have done something good,
such as answering a difficult question or helping a peer. Props are done by the entire class and
are typically a short movement or spoken phrase. The technique is intended to establish a group
culture in which learning accomplishments and positive actions are socially valued and
rewarded.

Nonverbal Intervention is when teachers establish eye contact or make gestures that let students
know they are off-task, not paying attention, or misbehaving. The technique helps teachers
efficiently and silently manages student behavior without disrupting a lesson.

Positive Group Correction is a quick, affirming verbal reminder that lets a group of students
know what they should be doing. Related techniques are Anonymous Individual Correction, a
verbal reminder that is directed at an anonymous student; Private Individual Correction, a
reminder given to an individual student as discretely as possible; and Lightning-Quick Public
Correction, a quick, positive reminder that tells an individual student what to do instead of what
not to do.

Do It Again is used when students do not perform a basic task correctly, and the teacher asks
them to do it again the correct way. This technique establishes and reinforces consistent
expectations for quality work.

UNIT 7. LEARNING PLANNING AND PREPARATION

Preparing to Teach
A lesson plan is a teacher's detailed description of the course of instruction or "learning
trajectory" for a lesson. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class learning.
Details will vary depending on the preference of the teacher, the subject being covered, and the
needs of the students. There may be requirements mandated by the school system regarding the
plan. A lesson plan is the teacher's guide for running a particular lesson, and it includes the goal

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(what the students are supposed to learn), how the goal will be reached (the method, procedure),
and a way of measuring how well the goal was reached (test, worksheet, homework, etc.).

Guidelines in Preparing Lesson Plan

Subject/Theme/Topic

Curriculum area/Areas of Learning and focus of your teaching session e.g. History, Iron Age; Art,
printmaking; Early Years Foundation Stage, Understanding of the World. Include a reference to
the stage this teaching episode is addressing, eg Lesson no. 4 out of 6.

Class/Early Years group.

Consider the class or the year group as this determines their entry behaviour and what they are
capable of learning. Different lessons are suitable for different groups of learners.

Core competencies to be acquired

These are the skills or competencies pupils are progressive to develop in the course of presenting
the learning experiences to the learner. They include;

1. Critical thinking and Problem-solving

2. Communication and Collaboration

3. Creativity and Innovation

4. Cultural Identity and Global Citizenship

5. Digital Literacy

6. Leadership and Personal Development

National Curriculum/ Early Years Foundation Stage/other references.

Reference to National Curriculum/Curriculum Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage or
other references will have been identified in the school planning for each subject/topic. Be
specific about which statements in the NC or areas of learning and development from the Early
Years Foundation Stage are relevant to this lesson. If you are doing cross-curricular work, this
should be reflected in your references.

Learning Objectives.

This is what you are going to teach and what you will assess at the end of the lesson to see if the
children have learned from your teaching. Learning objectives are linked to the National
Curriculum and other requirements, and should build on the children’s previous learning. The
learning objectives for each lesson will be the small steps towards the overall learning objectives

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for the programme of work. They should be very specific. At every stage, your planning springs
from the Learning Objectives.

Learning Outcomes

Your focus is on the children’s learning, and your learning outcomes should be expressed in
terms of what the children should know/be able to do/have experience of, ie “by the end of the
lesson the children will be able to…..”. In any class, there will be children with different
abilities, experiences, needs, etc. You may therefore expect to have different learning outcomes
for some children, within the same lesson. Record them on your plan.

Prior Assessments/ Previous learning

Identify the knowledge, skills, and understanding which the children will need as a starting point
for this lesson, and where these have been met. Each lesson should be able to build on the
previous ones. Sometimes you will be extending learning from previous years. You will need to
establish how much the children remember.

This will be where you add the targets for learning from the previous teaching session in the
topic - e.g. Blue group were very secure on addition up to 20, today I want them to add a two-
digit and a single-digit number together up to 30 or “all the children understood the reasons for
the Viking invasion, today we will look at the impact they had on existing settlements.”

Key Vocabulary

Do not assume that children are familiar with topic-related or technical vocabulary. Plan how
you will explain any new vocabulary, and then plan to use and reinforce it throughout the lesson,
including the plenary.

Support system (attendant). Identify who will be available to work with the children, e.g.
teacher, classroom assistant, integration assistant, parent, a nursery nurse. You will need to plan
for what they will be doing and write it on your plan. Share your planning with adult helpers
before the start of the lesson if possible. It is a good idea to write notes for classroom assistants,
parents/helpers, etc, of what you would like them to do and share the learning objectives of your
lessons with them. If they have their area of responsibility during, but “outside”, the lessons, e.g.
hearing children read, withdrawing children for individual support, write this into your planning
also.

Differentiation

Differentiation is a process by which differences (learning styles, interests, and readiness to

learn) between learners are accommodated so that all learners in a group have the best possible
chance of learning. Differentiation could be by content, tasks, questions, outcome, groupings,
and support. Differentiation as a way of ensuring each learner benefits adequately from the

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delivery of the curriculum can be achieved in the classroom through i) Task ii) Support from the
Guidance and Counselling Unit and iii) Learning outcomes.

Assessment Criteria

If your learning outcomes are clear you will know what you are looking for as you monitor the
children’s work. At the end of the session, you will assess whether the children have learned
what you taught. That’s if they have achieved the learning objectives. You can only assess what
children have learned by recognizing what they know/can do. Assessment criteria are the criteria
you will look for in children’s work, to evidence their learning e.g. use of appropriate adjectives
in an advertisement.

Assessment strategies/evidence

You must also know where you are going to find the evidence that learning has taken place. It
might be through listening to the pupils' talk, questioning, discussion, marking their completed
work, observing a particular task. Remember, you will not be able to assess all the children for
all the learning objectives in each lesson. Be realistic and systematic.

Resources.

List all the resources you and the children will use during the lesson. Ascertain where they are
kept, that they are available for your lesson, and that they are usable.

Lesson Activities, Organization, and breakdown of Timing.

Most lessons can be planned in three broad stages, although this format is not necessarily
followed in all lessons:

Introduction - time allowed

Your role is to establish the focus of the lesson and the learning objectives, arouse the children's
interest and motivate them to learn, link the lesson to their previous learning, explain and
demonstrate activities linked to learning objectives.

The children may, for example —

 Ask questions
 Brainstorm ideas
 Demonstrate
 Role-play
 Read
Main part/Development of lesson – time allowed

Your role is to continue to support the children, clarify understanding, extend individual learning,
and manage collaboration and opportunities for independent learning, give children feedback and

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encouragement. The children may, for example —investigate a problem individually, in pairs, in
groups

 write
 complete an exercise in workbooks
 make something
 use apparatus
 play a game
 talk to you, each other, another adult
 draw
 observe
 record
It may be a variety of these activities when the children are working independently. Share timings
with the children so that they know how much time you have allowed for them to complete the
activity.

Plenary/Conclusion

This is an area, which is often rushed if you have not stuck to your timings in the lesson so far,
but it is a very important part of the lesson. This is where you can check what the children have
learned. Your role is to make explicit and to consolidate learning, to share with the children
whether and how learning objectives have been met, including their opinions, to give feedback
and praise.

The children may, for example

 Describe and show their work

 Answer and ask questions
 Organize work for display
 Summarize their learning
 Use their new knowledge and skills to solve a problem.
For each stage, you must plan for and know —

 what the children will do

 what you will do

 what other adults will do
 what resources will be used
 how the children will be organized (where, in what groups, with what support, how they
will access and use and put away resources)
 timing  Transitions.

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Action points for the next lesson

These will be added after you have assessed the learning in the teaching episode and how much
work was completed – e.g. “worksheet was too easy for the blue group, I need to reassess the
level at which they should be working and plan accordingly to challenge them.”

You will not be able to differentiate for all children all the time, although there should be some
form of differentiation in all your lessons. It is important to provide variety in your teaching, to
give different children opportunities to access learning. If children experience a range of
teaching and learning activities, they will be able to respond at different levels, depending on
their abilities and interests.

Scheme of learning

What is a scheme of learning?

A scheme of learning is a document that summarizes the content of a course of instruction, and
which divides the course content into manageable portions for logical and organized teaching and
assessment. Syllabus documentation may not always be arranged into a sequence that provides
well for incremental learning, for a journey through the course materials in a way that makes
sense to the teacher and the learners alike; part of the function of the scheme of work is to
provide this structure. The scheme of work will also consider formative and summative
assessment and will build inappropriate time into the course design for related elements such as
revision before final examination-based assessments.

Any scheme of work will need to take into consideration external limiting factors. For most
courses, these will include the length of the course, the number of sessions per week, the length
of those sessions, and calendar-related aspects such as timings of vacation periods and
examination and other fixed assessment dates. The challenge to the teacher in writing work
schemes to meaningfully and logically break down the curriculum content into an ordered
sequence which will satisfy the logistical parameters into which the teaching is being delivered
while offering the best learning experience to those studying the course being offered.

A suggested format for writing Weekly Scheme of Learning (SOL)

Week STRAND SUB-STRAND CONTENT INDICATORS RESOURCES

STANDARDS

1 Oral Songs B3.1.1.1 B3.1.1.1.1 Letter cards

Language Phonics B3.2.2.1 B3.2.2.1.1. Word cards,
Reading Penmanship B3.4.2.1 B3.4.2.1.1 sentence
Writing Using Capital B3.5.1.1 B3.5.1.1.1 cards,
Using Build the love B3.6.1.1 B3.6.1.1.1 handwriting

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Writing and culture of on a manila
Conventions/ reading card, and
2 Grammar class library
Usage
Extensive
Reading

Components of a Learning Plan

Whether you teach several subjects or teach in a specific content area, lesson plans matter. The
quality of your lesson plans will in great part determine how efficiently class time is used and
how much content your students learn each period.

Lesson plans don’t have to be lengthy. The main thing is to make sure they contain the main
elements of the lesson. They are meant to guide your instruction so you can maximize classroom
time.

The new learner plan contains the following components:

• Strands are the broad areas/sections of the subject content to be studied.

• Sub-strands are the topics within each strand under which the content is organized.

• Content standard refers to the pre-determined level of knowledge, skill, and/or attitude
that a learner attains by a set stage of education.

• Indicator is a clear outcome or milestone that learners have to exhibit each year to meet
the content standard expectation. The indicators represent the minimum expected
standard in a year.

• Exemplar: Support and guidance, which clearly explains the expected outcomes of an
indicator and suggests what teaching and learning activities could take, to support the
facilitators/teachers in the delivery of the curriculum.

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• Phase1. Starter (Preparing the brain) example, song
• Phase 2. Main (new learning including assessment)
• Phase 3. Plenary/ reflections ( teacher and students
INSERT THE TABLE HERE

Factors to Consider In Planning Learning for Diverse Learners in Inclusive and

Multi Grade Settings

More and more teachers are including students with disabilities in general education settings and
endeavoring to meet the curriculum demands posed by the Standards of Learning. This is not an
easy task! Some lessons go well and others do not. A planning strategy called PASS may help
make your teaching more effective.

The PASS strategy represents a way of thinking that maximizes teaching in diverse classrooms.
The strategy consists of the four following elements:

1. Prioritize objectives. Examine all the lesson objectives, determine which objectives are
appropriate for students with learning differences, and eliminate those that are not
necessary.

2. Adapt instruction, materials, or the environment. Base the instruction, materials, and
environment on the prioritized instructional objectives. Create adaptations based on
students' needs.

3. Systematic instruction variables during instruction:

 Structure: Lessons are well organized and systematic. Students are aware of the
organization and structure of the lesson.
 Clarity: Teacher presentations are easy to understand. The teacher speaks clearly and
directly to the point of the objective, uses clear and direct language, enunciates carefully,
and provides concrete, specific examples of the information presented.
 Redundancy: Main points are repeated for emphasis and reinforcement.

 Enthusiasm: Teachers create exciting lessons that are fun and worthwhile.
 Appropriate Rate: The rate of the presentation fits the needs of the students. Generally, a
brisk rate maintains interest and motivation.
 Maximized Engagement: Students are actively engaged in the process of learning. They
listen, ask questions, take notes, solve problems, work in groups, complete class projects,
and are held accountable for their learning.
4. Systematic evaluation. Frequently measure students' progress toward meeting
instructional and IEP objectives. You may have noticed that when you take the first letter
from each of the variables of systematic instruction, you spell the word SCREAM. That is
precisely what the strategy may help you avoid! You can also call the T/TAC for a variety
of supports to make your teaching more successful.

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Individual Learning Plan (ILP)

An Individual Learning Plan (ILP) is a document that establishes a set of learning goals and
objectives for an individual student. Individual Learning Plans (ILPs) are aligned to the Victorian
F-10 curriculum and support the learning process by highlighting specific goals in individual
areas of need.

An Individual Learning Plan helps to identify a particular student’s strengths, challenges, and
interests to form a learning profile. It then matches that profile to strategies and resources that
can maximize student achievement.

Purpose

The curriculum is designed to suit the specific learning needs of each student. The use of an
Individual Learning Plan (ILP) is one-way specific learning goals can be recorded to best support
student learning outcomes.

Students who will receive an ILP:

• students who are 12 or more months behind the expected level of achievement against the
Curriculum (receiving a D or E on their semester report)
• students who are greater than 12 months above the expected level of achievement against
Curriculum (receiving an A on their semester report)
• students in court-ordered Out of Home Care
• students on the Program for Students with Disabilities (PSD)
• students of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background
• students who have been identified as requiring an Individual Learning Plan by their
teachers/parents/careers.
Stages of developing Individual Learning Plans
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5

Identifying the Determining Writing and Motoring and Reviewing ILP

student’s needs adjustments that implementing an evaluation and updating or
need to be made individual learning signing off and
to the curriculum plan discontinuing

Stage 1: Identifying the Student’s needs

Teachers bring to an Individual Learning Plan their expertise in designing and delivering a
teaching and learning program. Teachers are also able to identify and meaningfully consult with
others (eg. parent/guardian/carer, consultants) when profiling a student’s strengths, skills,
learning preferences and abilities, and identifying the most appropriate learning style.

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Stage 2: Determining adjustments that need to be made to the curriculum

An Individual Learning Plan can be used for short-term educational goals for students with
academic challenges. When setting goals for a student, a teacher will, in consultation with the
parents, consider these principles:

• goals allow the student to participate in their classroom programs

• goals are based on curriculum content and experiences similar to those for their cohort
• goals align with the classroom program, where possible
• goals are a priority for the student
• goals build upon the strengths and skills of the student
Stage 3: Completing and implementing an Individual Learning Plan

An Individual Learning Plan typically defines what needs to be taught, priorities of the content to
be taught, and implementation strategies to assist the student to work towards achieving the
goals. It is assumed in an Individual Learning Plan that the learning may occur in the classroom
and at home.

Stage 4: Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation for students enable progress to be measured, the effectiveness of the
program to be assessed and new goals to be developed. Where a student’s progress does not seem
to be occurring within the anticipated time frame, goals, targets, activities, and methods will be
reassessed. Other professionals may be consulted, if this has not already occurred, including
school-based student support services or recommendations for external assessments.

Stage 5: Reviewing ILP and updating or signing off and discontinuing

After the monitoring and evaluation stage, if it is determined that an Individual Learning Plan is
still required, the current Individual Learning Plan will be updated to reflect the student’s current
learning needs, goals and implementation strategies.

When developing an ILP, staff will:

• use student assessment data to determine student areas of support or extension

• set realistic, short term goals in specific areas relevant to the students learning needs
• consider and record the implementation strategies and reasonable adjustments to support
the student to achieve their goals
• any recommendations from paraprofessionals will be considered
• copies of Individual Learning Plans will be saved to the staff server and a hard copy
placed in the students class file
Review

• students requiring an Individual Learning Plan will be determined during Term 1 of the
new school year

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• The first Individual Learning Plan for the new school year will be developed by the class
teacher towards the end of Term 1 and an opportunity will be provided to parents to meet
with the class teacher to discuss the Individual Learning Plan. During this meeting,
parents will be provided with a copy of the Individual Learning Plan
• Individual Learning Plans will be reviewed at the end of each term and new goals created
• Teachers will determine if a student requires an Individual Learning Plan on a termly
basis
• An opportunity for parents to discuss their child’s progress and Individual Learning Plan
will be provided towards the end of each school term.

Selection of Teaching Learning Material (TLMs)

TLM is a commonly used acronym that stands for Teaching Learning Material, Broadly the term
refers to a spectrum of educational materials that a teacher uses in the classroom to support
specific learning objectives as said out in lesson plans. Teaching Learning Materials are tools for
significant teaching and learning.

They are useful to enhance the quality of the teaching-learning process. A teacher must explore a
variety of materials as suitable aids for instruction to supplement the textbook to provide
additional information, to broaden the concepts, and to arouse students’ interest.

The following factor should be considered in selecting teaching and learning

materials

• Instructional materials should support the educational philosophy, goals, and objectives
of the District and the objectives of the curricular offering in which the materials will be
used.
• Instructional materials should be appropriate for the age, emotional and social
development, and ability level of the students for whom the materials are selected.
• Instructional materials should be diverse with respect to levels of difficulty, reader appeal,
and should present a variety of points of view.

• Instructional materials should meet high standards of quality in factual content and
presentation.
• Instructional materials should have aesthetic, cultural, literary, or social value. The value
and impact of any literary work will be judged as a whole, taking into account the
author’s intent rather than individual words, phrases, or incidents.
• Instructional materials should foster respect for men, women, the disabled, and minority
groups and should portray a variety of roles and lifestyles open to people in today’s
world. Instructional materials should foster respect for cultural diversity.

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• Instructional materials should be designed to motivate students to examine their attitudes
and behaviors and to comprehend their duties, responsibilities, rights, and privileges as
participating citizens in a pluralistic society
• Instructional materials should encourage students to utilize higher-order thinking skills
and to become informed decision-makers, to exercise freedom of thought, and to make
independent judgments through examination and evaluation of relevant information,
evidence, and differing viewpoints.
• Instructional materials should be selected taking into account instructional materials
already available in the District to meet the above criteria and to replace materials worn,
obsolete, or no longer appropriate.

CONCEPT OF INSTRUCTIONAL MULTI-MEDIA DEVELOPMENT

When examining the role of instructional media in learning, we focus on the physical system or
vehicle used to deliver information to students or teachers—such as a textbook, instructional
video, or computer program. When examining the role of the instructional method in learning,
we focus on techniques that are embedded in different technologies to promote learning—such as
advance organizers, scaffolding, or self-explanation methods. Media and methods can be
combined in many ways. Some instructional technologies include identical methods (e.g.,
graphic organizers) but differ in that they are delivered with different media (graphic organizers
in a PowerPoint program or graphic organizers in a textbook)

Multimedia, as its name implies, integrates different media—such as text, graphics, animation,
sounds, videos, and photos—in one presentation. Although many people hope that printed books
will be around for a long time, there are strong pressures by the government, libraries,
universities, schools, and book publishers to make print materials available in electronic format,
with an increasing number of electronic texts being presented in the form of hypertext,
interactive text where certain words or terms contain a hyperlink that can be selected to find
more information. When multimedia and hypertext are combined, the resulting product is called
hypermedia, a system in which students can learn by exploring multiple representations of
knowledge that are interconnected by a network of links. Most of the recent educational software
and educational applications on the Internet consist of hypermedia systems. Electronic
instructional materials are also called e-materials, and learning from electronic materials is called
e-learning. Unlike learning from older media such as text and lectures, e-learning can be quite
challenging because there are too many different paths for constructing knowledge and too many
representations that need to be integrated.

Researchers developed a set of instructional design principles that teachers can use to evaluate
the learning potential of new technologies before integrating them into their classrooms. These

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principles are summarized in the next two sections. First, principles that are aimed at preventing
students’ cognitive overload by minimizing extraneous processing: the processing of information
that is not necessary to make a lesson intelligible. Second, principles that are aimed at promoting
generative processing: the combination of hands-on and minds-on activity that leads to the
generation of meaningful encoding of new information

When Multimedia Learning Environments Minimize Extraneous Processing

Cognitive Principle Visual Example

Multimedia principle: Students learn better when presented with verbal explanations and
corresponding pictures rather than with words alone or pictures alone.

Modality principle: Students learn better when dynamic visual displays (e.g., animations,
videos, simulations) are accompanied by narrated explanations rather than written explanations.

Temporal contiguity principle: Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures
are presented simultaneously rather than sequentially.

Spatial contiguity principle: Students learn better hen representations that mutually refer to
each other are presented physically close rather than separated

Redundancy principle: Students learn better when redundant on-screen text is removed from
narrated dynamic displays (e.g., animations, videos).

Signalling principle: Students learn better when instructional programs signal relevant
information, such as by highlighting, outlining, and pointing to words or visual elements on the
screen.

Segmentation principle: Students learn better when complex knowledge and skills and long
presentations are broken into learner-controlled segments

Coherence principle: Students learn better when instructional programs exclude information
that is not necessary to make the lesson intelligible.

Pre-training principle: Students learn better when learning environments provide pre-training
on the names, locations, and behaviour of key components before presenting a lesson that is
complex, fast-paced, or unfamiliar.

Consequently, a second question that you should ask when making technology integration
decisions is whether the technology is designed to foster the meaningful processing of learning
materials. There are at least four more principles that, when applied to computer-based
instruction, can accomplish this goal (Moreno & Mayer, 2007).

Personalization principle: Students encode information more deeply when explanations are
presented using a conversational style and they are addressed as participants rather than

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observers of the learning environment. Learning environments that activate students’ schemas are
more likely to result in the meaningful integration of new information with students’ prior
knowledge.

Guided-activity principle: Students learn better when they interact with a pedagogical agent
who guides their cognitive processing as they manipulate and experiment with learning
materials. Compared to receiving direct instruction, students who are allowed to become actively
engaged in the selection, organization, and integration of multimedia materials construct a
deeper.

Feedback principle: Students learn better with principle-based feedback rather than corrective
feedback alone (feedback that only informs students about the correctness of their response).
According to this principle, the effectiveness of instructional technology is also dependent on the
relationship between the quality of feedback given by the system and students’ prior knowledge.

Reflection principle: Students encode information deeper when they are prompted to become
more mentally active during the lesson. Another strength of new instructional technologies is that
they are highly interactive, a quality that can result in more

PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING

THE PRINCIPLE OF MULTIPLE RESPONSES

When you pose a question to your class and the pupils give a wrong response, you may give
them another chance. As a teacher, you are applying the principle of multiple responses when
you give your pupils the chance to try and get a correct answer to a question or a problem. The
principle states that man or animal may try many responses before getting the right response
through the process of trial and error. Trial and error learning was discovered by E.KL.
Thorndike.

THE PRINCIPLE OF MENTAL SET

Worthman, Loftus, and Marshall (1988) mental set is a tendency to transfer previously learned
knowledge to new situations. The ability to apply or transfer previous ideas to solving new
problems. Thus the transfer of learning For learning to occur, a positive mindset in pupils is an
essential condition because an inappropriate mental set leads to counter-productive behaviour.
The pupils’ minds must be in the classroom and focused on what is being taught before learning
can take place.

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THE PRINCIPLE OF PARTIAL ACTIVITY

This means engaging pupils to perform activities one after the other. In trying to manage to
capture the attention of the pupils to focus only on the lesson, you are using the principle of
partial activity.

THE PRINCIPLE OF ANALOGY OR ASSIMILATION

This principle states that when an individual encounters a new situation or problem for which he
or she has no natural or learned response, the response he or she makes will resemble an earlier
response to a similar situation. For instance, a child who only knows the concept dog would also
call a goat, a dog, since they look similar. Assimilation involves adding new information to the
old way of thinking or behaving.

CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORIES AND APPLICATION TO RESOURCES

DEVELOPMENT AND SELECTION (VYGOTSKY AND PIAGET)

The constructivist view of learning is the idea that students actively construct their knowledge
from their personal experiences with others and with the environment. There are two types of
constructivism, individual and social constructivism. Individual constructivism is largely inspired
by the work of Piaget (1954). According to this constructivist perspective, the role of technology
is to provide instructional materials and environments where students can make intelligent
choices for themselves as they construct knowledge in their minds. Recall that Piaget argued that
cognitive development is the process of encountering a contradiction about one’s beliefs and
becoming motivated to resolve the cognitive conflict by finding new information that can restore
equilibrium. Social constructivism is largely based on the work of Vygotsky (1978). According to
this learning perspective, it is by sharing individual perspectives with others that learners can
construct understandings together that would not be possible to construct individually (Gauvain,
2001). Vygotsky (1978) clearly states the essential role of social collaboration in learning:
“Learning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that can operate only when the
child is interacting with people in his environment and cooperation with his peers”.

Inquiry-based learning includes technologies that support individual constructivism by

presenting students with opportunities to carry out experiments, process data collected by
sensors, and interpret the results of different graphical representations.

Cognitive tutors and collaborative computer-based environments are technologies that can
help students construct meaningful understandings by interacting with others. Let’s take a look at
some examples of these constructivist technologies.

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Inquiry-Based Technologies. With the support of computer software, students can engage in the
inquiry process by conducting virtual experiments, engaging in online investigations, and
pursuing scientific activities that are similar to those performed by actual scientists. Inquiry-
based instructional programs typically use a guided-discovery method, which consists of
providing hints and directions when students are at an impasse in solving a problem or answering
a question.

BGuILE is an inquiry-based computer environment for learning biology (Reiser et al., 2001).
This software provides access to data and tools that students can use to test hypotheses and
record and communicate their findings. The program is designed to scaffold students’ inquiry
activities as they complete relevant tasks using prompts, hints, or reminders.

Web Quest is a technology that engages students in collaborative inquiry. Teachers can use Web
Quests to promote inquiry-based learning and collaborative learning simultaneously. Web Quests
are teacher-designed environments that provide useful information, resources, and guidance to
accomplish a variety of academic activities. They are a good way to introduce students to
Internet searching and to collaborate on projects. Many Web Quests are designed so that different
members of a collaborative group work on different roles.

Another characteristic of many inquiry-based programs is that they include microcomputer-

based laboratories (MBLs) and micro-worlds. MBLs allow students to build on their knowledge
and correct misconceptions by presenting sensors and probes for a variety of scientific variables
(Nakhleh, 1994; Trumper & Gelbman, 2002). MBLs are typically attached to a computer to
display the results of their measures. Micro-worlds are simulations that visually demonstrate how
things work in the real world. Simulations are most useful when they demonstrate invisible
processes (e.g., the seasons of the earth) or difficult to perceive accurately because in real life the
process would be too quick (e.g., the movements of a dancer) or too slow (e.g., the long-term
changes in an ecosystem). Simulations also present a training advantage when safety during
practice is at stake, such as the case of a flight simulator or a surgery simulator to train a pilot
and medical students, respectively. Micro-worlds can be powerful tools to foster cognitive
development because students can test their misconceptions in vivo (Grabe & Grabe, 2001;
Nickerson, 1995.

Cognitive tutors are intelligent tutoring systems that develop cognitive models of students’
knowledge and thinking as they interact with the computer program. In these technology-based
environments, students receive the benefits of individualized instruction, including practice with
immediate feedback, online help, and coaching. Tutors monitor students’ problem solving to
determine what they know and don’t know, allowing instruction to be directed at what still needs
to be mastered and ensuring that students’ learning time is spent efficiently. The instructional
method underlying cognitive tutors is an apprenticeship, in which a learner first observes how the
tutor performs a task (e.g., problem-solving, essay writing), then performs the task with the help
of the tutor’s prompts and hints, which are gradually faded as the learner shows mastery of the
skills (Bonk & Cunningham, 1998). The most widely used cognitive tutor program is probably

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Carnegie Learning’s Cognitive Tutor, which combines individualized computer lessons with
collaborative, real-world problem-solving

Problem-Based Learning Tools. The Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt University
(CTGV, 2000) developed a problem-based learning tool that is a videodisc learning environment
for fifth- and sixth-grade mathematics learning. The series, called The Adventures of Jasper
Woodbury, presents learners with real-world situations that require applying knowledge in
various domains (e.g., math, science, history) to solve the problem. Over three to five class
periods, students are typically arranged in small groups to view a Jasper adventure, re-explore the
video to find the data needed to solve the problem and present their solutions to their classmates.
After discussing the pros and cons of different solutions to a Jasper adventure, students work on
extension problems that engage them in “what if” thinking by revisiting the original adventures
from new points of view. For example, after proposing the use of an ultralight airplane to rescue
a wounded eagle in one of Jasper’s adventures, students may be asked to rethink how the
presence of headwinds or tailwinds would affect their original solution. A distinctive
characteristic of the Jasper series is that it consists of anchored instruction, which is problem-
based learning including an anchor—the rich, interesting problem situation around which
students focus their thinking. These adventures are aimed at helping students solve problems in
authentic contexts and develop transferable knowledge and skills. Jasper-trained classrooms
performed significantly better than control classrooms on a test where students were required to
plan a solution to a word problem and to break the problem into sub-goals (CTGV, 1996, 2000).
The videodisc series is an example of technology as a vehicle to promote active problem-solving
in realistic contexts. However, more research is needed to better understand how the series helps
problem-solving. Because the Jasper series includes several methods for problem-solving
(inquiry methods, cooperative learning)

Knowledge-Building Communities. This technology consists of a computer-based system in

which students collaborate with other students to build knowledge about any topic that is being
studied. The system creates an on-going shared database that can be accessed by students and
teachers at any time. A well-known knowledge-building community system is Knowledge
Forum®, which provides students and teachers with a collaborative space in which to share ideas
and data (Scardamalia, 2004). Students start with an empty knowledge base that develops from a
question or issue that is the centre of their meaning negotiation. Then students submit ideas,
reorganize the knowledge, and ultimately construct new collective understandings. Knowledge
Forum displays the individual contributions of each student with a knowledge map and provides
scaffolds for reflection and theory building. A study that used an earlier version of Knowledge
Forum called CSILE showed significant advances in textual, graphical, and computer literacy, as
well as in-depth inquiry and collaboration processes (Scardamalia, Bereiter, & Lamon, 1994).

SPECIAL-NEEDS STUDENTS AND ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES

Some of the most important advances offered by technology have been made on behalf of
students with disabilities, who are now better able to successfully perform in the inclusive

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classroom. Technology that is developed to give individuals with disabilities the ability to have
access to academic materials and activities and communicate more easily with teachers and peers
is called assistive technology (AT). AT ranges from more traditional technologies such as
eyeglasses, which enable people with imperfect sight to better experience the world visually, to
augmentative communication devices, which assist students who are unable to vocally express
their ideas by translating typed words into speech. Classroom Tips: Using Assistive Technology
to Support Students’ Special Needs lists examples of AT for students with learning disabilities.
Keep in mind, however, that just as a disability label is not sufficient to provide direction for the
type of instruction that a particular student may need, it also may not determine the type of AT
that can support a particular student. Students with the same disability may need more or less
support from AT to succeed, depending on their unique intellectual, emotional, and physical
characteristics. Teachers should work with special educators and specialists to determine which
technology tools will be best for each student.

Using Assistive Technology to Support Students’ Special Needs

Special Education Category: Assistive Technology Examples
1. Communication disorders  KidAccess: A system of stickers and
magnets with pictures that children
can use to make choices, understand
and express emotions, and organize
their day.
 Communication boards: A flat
surface with buttons and pictures that
children can use to indicate their
answer to a question or to make a
request. Electronic communicators:
Systems whereby children can select
pre-programmed words and phrases
that are played with a synthesized
voice.

 Co: Writer and Write:OutLoud:

Computer programs that help
students produce written documents
by providing word-prediction and
text-to-speech interaction.

 Augmentative and alternative

communication tools: Aids that
supplement, replace, or enhance
speech or writing.
 Software to aid speech assessment
and instruction (e.g., Video Voice,

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Tiger’s Tale).
2. Emotional and behavioural disorders Individualized computer programs that teach
students’ own pace. Spread-sheets to help
students monitor their behaviour. Working It
Out Together: A video-based CD designed to
teach peer mediation by showing actual
conflicts played out by real students.
Internet mentoring and online therapy.
3. Hearing impairments Hearing aids and radio transmitters that amplify
the teacher’s speech.
Text telephones: Teletypewriter or
telecommunication devices for the deaf, similar to
current text-messaging systems.
E-mail, fax, and chatting systems for
communicating with text and video phones and
videoconferencing systems for communicating
with sign language.
Automatic speech recognition software to convert
speech to text and vice versa.
4. Visual impairments Recorded books: Readings on tape, CD, and other auditory media.
Braille technologies: A system of raised dots that
represent letters and punctuation.
Tele-Braille machines to type and send text over
phone lines and Braille note-takers. Screen
readers: Software that reads aloud what appears
on a screen.
Optical character recognition devices: A system
that uses a scanner and software to improve the
contrast in printed documents and enlarge their
display.
Audio calculators: Computers that allow students
to voice numbers and calculations.
5. Physical impairments Alternative keypads such as graphic pads and
fist/foot keyboards, touch-screen monitors,
mouth- or foot-controlled switches.
6. Autism Picture exchange Pictorial representations to help children express
communication systems ideas and develop communication skills.
DynaMyte Keyboards: Systems that translate
students’ picture selections into speech.
Speech-language software to support children’s
development of speech skills(e.g., Earobics,
Baldi, Fast For Word).
7. Learning disabilities External memory aids such as talking calculators,
which provide auditory feedback for basic
calculations.
Software that focuses on basic phoneme
identification (e.g., Earobics, Away We Go!).

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Software that assists with basic writing skills(e.g.,
spellcheck and grammar check).
8. Mental retardation Drill-and-practice software (e.g., Access to Math,
Fast For Word, Kid Pix).
Toys and switches to teach basic computer and
assistive technology skills. Games that teach goal
setting, attention, and cause–effect relationships
(e.g., Lemonade Stand, NASCAR 2002).
Software that supports the development of life
skills (e.g., Personal Success).
Kid Access, communication boards, and
electronic communicators.
Software that teaches reading skills (e.g., Fast For
Word, Simon Sounds It Out).
Start-to-Finish Books series: A system including
a book, CD, and audiocassette tape to teach basic
reading skills.
Software that teaches math skills (e.g., Access to
Math, Match Time, Basic Coins).

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