Module 4: Instructional Technology- Principles and Approaches

Module 4: Instructional Technology- Principles and Approaches

4.1 INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY- MEANING

Instructional Technology is the theory and practice of design, development, utilization, management and evaluation of processes and resources for learning. Instructional design helps to plan, develop, evaluate and manage the instructional process effectively to ensure improved performance by learners. Instructional Technology's goal is to understand how people learn and how to best design instructional systems and instructional materials to facilitate that learning. Instructional Technologists are today's problem solvers. They look to understand performance problems and design solutions to those problems. Sometimes the solution is instructional; other times the situation requires a non-instructional solution.

At the very basic level, a method or style of delivering information to a student or audience is devised and then put into action. The delivery technique and audience are then monitored in some way so as to determine the effectiveness of the delivery process. This feedback data then gives the designers of the delivery mechanism a way to measure the effectiveness of the process and a chance to improve upon the process by introducing new elements and/or eliminating ineffective elements of the delivery method and try again, and again.

THE PURPOSE OF INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY

Humans have always sought ways to improve instruction by using physical and mental representations (eg, technology) to better explain complex ideas.

INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY

• Facilitates learning.
• Does not cause or control learning.
• Learning is a process, as is instruction.
• “Learning” means different things to different people.

Instructional technology is the systematic application of strategies and techniques derived from the behavioural, cognitive, and constructivist theories to the solution of instructional problems.

PRINCIPLES OF TEACHING

• Principle of definiteness of goals or objectives
• Principle of planning
• Principle of flexibility and elasticity
• Principle of  utilizing past experience
• Principle of child- centeredness
• Principle of linking with actual life
• Principle of correlating with other subjects
• Principle of effective strategies and instructional material
• Principle of active participation and involvement
• Principle of conducive environment

MAXIMS / PRINCIPLE OF TEACHING

Every teacher wants to make maximum involvement and participation of the learners in the learning process. He sets the classroom in such a way so that it becomes attractive for them. He uses different methods, rules, principles etc in order to make his lesson effective and purposeful. He uses general rule or formula and applies it to particular example in order to make teaching – learning process easy and upto the understandable level of students.

These settled principles, tenets, working rules or general truths through which teaching becomes interesting, easy and effective are called the maxims of teaching. Maxims are statements of the way in which teaching and learning go forward. they ensure effective and efficient teaching and learning. They have universal significance.

The different maxims of teaching are

1. From known to unknown:-

When a child enters into school, he possess some knowledge and it is the duty of teacher to enlarge his previous knowledge . Whatever he possesses should be linked with the new knowledge. If we link new knowledge with the old knowledge our teaching becomes clearer and more definite.

This maxim facilitates the learning process and economizes the efforts of the teacher and the taught. For example before teaching profit and loss teacher should speak about buying and selling. Here profit and loss is unknown and buying and selling is known. This way of teaching helps the learners to understand things fully. This way the teaching becomes definite, clearer and more fruitful.

2. From simple to complex:-

The main objective of teaching is to teacher and the learners objective is to learn something. In this process of teaching and learning, simple or easy things should be first presented to the students and gradually he should proceed towards complex or difficult things. The presentation of simple material makes the learners interested, confident and feel encouraged. As they will show interest towards the simple material, they becomes receptive to the complex matter. On the other hand, if complex matter is presented first, the learner becomes upset, feel bored and finds himself in a challenging situation. For example in mathematics we first present the idea of +, - , x and then division.

3. From concrete to abstract:-

Concrete things are solid things and they can be visualized but abstract things are only imaginative things. The child understands more easily when taught through their senses and never forget that material. On the other hand if abstract things or ideas are presented, they forget it soon. As Froebel said, “Our lessons ought to start in the concrete and end in the abstract”. For example when we teach the solar system, we first visualize the sun through our senses and gives the concept of eight planets, galaxies, meteorites etc. Through this process, the learners understand the materials more easily. Some power of imagination also develops in them .But if we reverse the situation, it will become difficult for learners to understand anything. Another example, when we teach counting to the students we should first take the help of concrete objects like beads, stones etc. and then proceed to digits and numbers.

4. From analysis to synthesis:-

When we divide a thing into easy parts or separate elements in order to understand it easily is called analysis. It is the process which helps in understanding the hidden elements of a thing or the cause of some incident or behavior. For instance, in order to tell about the structure or functions of heart, the parts of the heart are shown separately and knowledge of every part is given. After it the students are made to understand the structure or system of working of the heart. In this way, even a very difficult thing can be easily understood. Synthesis is just opposite of analysis. All parts are shown as a whole. The process of analysis is easier than synthesis for understanding a thing. This process develops the analytical power of the students. It is the best method of starting the teaching process. For example while teaching digestive system, we should first analyse the different parts of digestive system one by one and then gives the synthetic view of it. Hence a good teacher always proceeds from analysis to synthesis.

5. From empirical to rational:-

Empirical knowledge is that which is based on observation and first hand experience about which no reasoning is needed at all. It is concrete, particular and simple. We can feel and experience it. On the other hand rational knowledge is based upon arguments and explanations. For example suppose the students are to be taught that water boils on heating. They should first be made to heat the water and see it boiling. Then the teacher should explain that when water is heated, the molecules gain kinetic energy and there is thermal agitation of the molecules which make the water boil. This maxim is an extension of some of the previous maxims, namely proceed from simple to complex proceed from concrete to abstract and from particular

to general.

6. From induction to deduction:-

The process of deriving general laws, rules or formulae from particular examples is called induction. In it if a statement is true in a special situation, it will also be true in other similar situations. It means drawing a conclusion from set of examples. For example when hydrogen reacts with boron, it gives Boron hydride, potassium reacts hydrogen, it gives potassium hydride, we come to the conclusion that all elements when reacts with hydrogen they from hydrides. While using this process in teaching, a teacher has to present particular examples or experiences and tell about similarity of their attributes. Deduction is just opposite of induction. In it, we derive a certain particular conclusion from general laws, rules or principles. For example in language teaching, before giving the definition of noun, the students are acquainted with the example of noun like man, chair, Delhi etc and then they are led to general definition of noun. So a good teacher always proceeds from induction and finishes at deduction.

7. From psychological to logical:-

Modern education gives more emphases on psychology of the child. The child`s psychological development is of utmost important than any other thing. A teacher while teaching should follow this maxim viz from psychological to logical. Psychological approach takes into consideration the pupil his interests, abilities, aptitudes, development level, needs and reactions. The teacher should keep in mind the psychological selection of the subject matter to be presented before the pupils. Logical approach considers the arrangement of the choosen content into logical order and steps. It is child centered maximum. For example a teacher tells the story of a poem to students when they are not interested in reading, with this a teacher proceeds from psychological to logical sequence.

8. From Actual to Representative:

First hand experiences makes learning more vivid and efficient than to give them representative ones. A teacher while selecting the content for presentation should make all efforts possible to present it through actual, natural or real objects than from their improvised representative one’s like pictures, models etc. For example to teach about dam, a teacher should try his best to visit the actual place and that learning will be more vivid and the pupils will retain it for a long time inspite of teaching through sketches, model or a picture. Representative forms should be used at the higher classes than in lower classes.

9. From definite to indefinite:

A teacher should always start from definite because definiteness has its limited boundaries and jurisdiction than indefinite things. We always have confidence on definite and tested things. We learn easily indefinite things on the basis of definite things. Hence a teacher while teaching any content should first present definite things, ideas and then he can learn indefinite things easily. Definite things, definite rules of grammar help the learner to have good knowledge. Gradually he can be taught about indefinite things.

PHASES OF TEACHING

The operations of teaching are most important because these operation create the situation for learning. The operation of teaching can be divided into three phases Jackson analyses the teaching systematically in three phases.

1. Pre active phase

It is the stage of planning for teaching. All that a teacher plans before going to classroom to deal with students or to teach. In pre-active phase or teaching the following operations are involved. (a) Formulation of Goals: The teacher formulates in detail the instructional or curricular objectives of teaching Social Studies. These objectives are based or Psychology of the students as well as needs of the society.

(b) Arrangements of the ideas: The teacher has to arrange sue contents in a logical sequence, in such a way that it should function empirically

(c) Decision making about the strategies of Teaching: The teacher has to select appropriate strategies and tactics of teaching keeping in view nature and structure of the content and objectives of teaching. This operation is very important in teaches education programme. Such skills and abilities should be emphasized during the teacher training courses.

(d) Decision making about the subject matter: The teacher decides about the content to be taught to the students and structure of the content. This decision is based on the following considerations.

• Demand of the curriculum prescribed for the students.

• The entering behaviour and needs of the students.

• Level of motivation of the learner.

• Teachers preference for assessment relating to the content

(e) Development of teaching strategies: The teacher has to decide before hand or in advance about strategies or tactics which he has to use durir4; he course of his classroom teaching.

2. Interactive Phase

The interactive phase of teaching includes all those behaviour, activities which a teacher uses after entering the classroom. The interactive stage involves all activities in presenting the subject matter. The following are the activities in interactive phase.

a). Sizing up the class: The teacher tries to identify the faces of students size up the class group before teaching.

b). Diagnosis of the learner: The teacher tries to diagnose the level of their achievements, in his students in three areas: (i) Ability (ii) Attitude and Interest and (iii) Academic background.

c). Action: Here the teacher initiates the activities in the classroom.

d). Selection of stimuli: A good teacher must know which one is appropriate stimuli or which is the interaction stimuli in that particular teaching situation.

e). Presentation of stimuli: The teacher must know three thing in presenting he stimuli (i) form (ii) context (iii) order or sequence.

f) 'Feedback or reinforcement: It is a condition which will increase the probability that particular response will be repeated in future.

g) Development of strategies: The strategies of reinforcing the students, of controlling their verbal and non verbal behaviour are used for imparting the subject-content effectively while a teacher teaches in the classroom.

3. Post Active Phase

This is an evaluation phase of teaching. It includes the teacher tasks which evaluate student's performance based on classroom teaching. The behavioural changes of students are assessed at the end of teaching. The oral or written questions are asked at the third stage of teaching. The following are the main operations of this phase of teaching.

a) Recording the responses of the students: The first task of teacher after the class is to record the students responses appropriately to different learning activities provided by the teacher.

b) Changing or improving strategies of teaching: Students responses may provide a basis for improving his teaching strategies by reorganizing and changing the strategies or tactics.

c) Selecting appropriate testing devices: The teacher chooses certain suitable testing techniques and tools to measure the various desired dimensions of learning material. The test should be reliable, valid and objective in nature Cognitive and non cognitive outcome require different testing devices.

LEVELS OF TEACHING

In the formal classroom setting the task of teaching carried out by the teacher along with his pupils, according to Bigge (1967), can be performed at various levels ranging from the least thoughtful to the most thoughtful behaviour or mode of action. Accordingly, psychologists and educationists have clearly identified three such levels of teaching-learning at memory level, understanding level and reflective level.

Memory level falls at the bottom depicting the involvement of the least thoughtful behaviour and the reflective level at the top needing the involvement of higher cognitive abilities and the most thoughtful behavior. The understanding level falls in between, requiring the involvement of the thoughtful behaviour in a moderate reasonable amount.

Hierarchical order of the levels of teaching.

MEMORY LEVEL OF TEACHING

Teaching-learning act at the memory level represents the involvement of the least thoughtful behavior. In such type of act memory plays a key role. The teacher presents factual information before the learner. The learner tries to mug up these facts with the least involvement of his thinking and reasoning power without any care of the understanding of their meaning and application.

The classroom task at the memory level of teaching is confined merely to the memorization of the facts or associations related to the content material of a subject. Here the information, facts and body of contents are presented before a learner in such a way that they yield better results in terms of the memorization of the presented material. The learner is supposed to retain this material as longer as possible and to reproduce it when needed. The whole effort in such teaching-learning then revolves round the acquisition of the factual information or knowledge through rote learning. The students then try to mug up the content material, retain them in their memory and reproduce them at a time when asked to do so.

Objectives

The teaching act performed at the memory level is confined to achieve the knowledge objective in the following ways:

1. Acquisition of presented facts through rote learning

2. Retention and reproduction of the acquired information as and when needed.

Nature of the subject-matter

Memory level teaching is predominantly subject centered. Its sole objective is effective memorization of the presented material by the learner.

The role of the teacher

Teacher plays a very dominant and authoritarian role in the memory level of teaching. It is he who decides about the methodology for the presentation of the subject material before the learner.

The role of the learner

The leaner has a passive role in the memory level of teaching. His mind is considered as a big storehouse of information or knowledge regarding various subjects.

The merits of teaching at memory level

1. Such type of teaching-learning may be found to suit the very nature of the small children to a great extent, as their memory at the younger age is the rote memory. They are capable of mugging up things without caring to know their meaning & use.

2. The memory level of teaching- learning provides solid base for erecting the higher structure of teaching-learning

3.The memory level of teaching-learning gives full freedom to the teacher to realise his goal.

Demerits and defects of teaching at memory level

1. It provides no scope for the development of understanding and other essential cognitive abilities of the students.

2. It very difficult for the students’ taught at the memory level to make any practical use of their learning.

3. Despite the best efforts in such teaching-learning, there is no guarantee retention and appropriate reproduction of the memorized material by the learner.

UNDERSTANDING LEVEL OF TEACHING

Understanding level of teaching represents relatively a high level in the teaching process as compared to memory level. It calls for the use of one's thought processes and cognitive abilities

in the form of reasoning and thinking powers, powers of imagination, analysis, synthesis , comparison, application, generalization and drawing inferences, etc.

1. It does not stop with the acquisition of facts or information by the student as done at the memory level but takes them ahead for generalizing the rules or principles of these acquired facts.

2. The students can identify the relationship between the individual facts and the principles generalized out of these facts.

3. It helps the students use the generalized rules or principles as a tool or instrument in the acquisition of new facts or applying them in their practical life.

Let us illustrate it with an example. When a student memorizes a fact, 7 x 5= 35, the

teaching-learning process is said to be operated at the memory level. In this case, he memorizes the fact without understanding, i.e., he neither knows the generalization behind this party fact nor its application. It is only when he is taught at the understanding level he happens to know that:

• 7 x 5 is similar and equal to 5 x 7.

• When seven objects are grouped five times or five objects are grouped seen ti the product is always thirty five.

• This fact or relationship is true for all objects in all situations.

Objectives

1.Knowledge objective: Acquisition of required factual information or body of facts.

2.Understanding objective:  Under this objective the learners are able:

• to see relationship between acquired facts
• to comprehend the meaning of the acquired facts or factual information
• to identify the similarities and dissimilarities between the acquired facts
• to seek generalization out of the specific facts
• to apply the generalized fact, rule or principle for learning new facts in practical life situations.

Nature of the subject matter

The subject matter for the understanding level teaching is quite structured in terms of planning sequential and organized presentation and meaningful learning.

The role of the teacher

Like memory level teaching the teacher plays a quite dominant and authoritarian role at the understanding level of teaching. This type of teaching is also too much subject centred and hence teacher has to pay his full attention in presenting the subject matter to his students to attain the desired understanding objective besides the knowledge objective. He has to take care of the fact that the students gain complete mastery over the subject matter in terms of understanding and generalized insight rather than its mere memorization, i.e. retention and reproduction of the memorized facts.

The role of the learner

The learner does not have a passive role here as in the case of memory level teaching. He has to remain active in acquiring the desired understanding of the learned facts. However, the key of the teaching-learning process lies well in the hands of the teacher.

The merits of teaching at understanding level.

1.Understanding level teaching helps the students in the acquisition of the facts or information more effectively than the memory level. Here, the retention is quite long as it is accompanied by clear understanding of the facts or information.

2. It helps students to learn generalized rules, principles or theories built up on the basis of individual facts or special examples.

3. Understanding level teaching trains and equips them for acting more intelligently in proceeding on the path of learning. They get proper opportunity for the development of their cognitive abilities through various acts like analyzing, synthesizing, compairing, drawing inferences, making generalizations, applying rules and principles, etc.

Demerits of teaching at understanding level.

1. The teaching at the understanding level is more or less teacher centred and subject centred rather than being child centred.
2. The motivation is largely extrinsic in nature and the students' ego is hardly involved in such type of teaching.
3. The results of such teaching are always judged in terms of the fixed specific responses. Such type of teaching-learning environment and evaluation pattern can't help in the development of higher cognitive abilities, including creativity and independent problem solving abilities among students.

REFLECTIVE LEVEL OF TEACHING

The word reflection stands for the act of reflection (turning back), contemplating or paying serious consideration. Consequently, teaching at reflective level must have its association with the process of reflecting or turning back the existing idea or knowledge for more careful consideration or critical examination to derive fresh conclusions.

The reflective level teaching provides opportunity to the learners for the close, careful and critical examination of the existing facts, ideas, insights and generalizations. The learners try to test them in the light of the relevant evidence. They are free to set independent hypotheses, test them and draw their own conclusions for learning new facts or having new insight.

Looking at the above cited nature, it is a must that teaching-learning at the reflective level should be organized at some advanced level that can provide opportunities for the utilization of the learners' cognitive abilities. Such opportunities may be best provided if the teaching-learning situations are turned into problematic ones and the students are made to discover the solutions of problems in the light of their own thinking and independent pursuit of knowledge. Therefore, in practical sense, teaching at the reflective level is nothing but a problem solving or discovery approach towards teaching-learning.

Objectives

1. To make use of the learned facts and acquired understanding or insight for learning reflectively.

2. To help the learner build up an enlarged store of the tested insights of generalized character.

3. To enhance the learners’ ability to develop and solve problems at their own initiative.

Nature of subject-matter

Here the subject matter is not presented in the highly structured form as done at memory and understanding levels. It is almost open ended in the form of problem raising and problem solving.

Role of the teacher

At the reflective level of teaching, the teacher does not play a dominant and authoritarian role like in memory or understanding level teaching. Here, instead of telling the facts or generalizations, he has to make students discover them. He is there to help them in such learning and discovering by raising problems, initiating mutual discussion and interactions; welcoming critical reactions and engaging them in the discovery of the truth of the matter and solution of the problem as independently as possible.

Role of the learner

The learner can't remain a passive listener or silent observer in reflective level teaching. He has to make use of his cognitive abilities and take all initiatives in the process of raising and problem solving involved at this level of teaching. In addition to the learning and understanding of the facts and generalized insight, he has to work for the learning of the art and techniques of problem solving processes.

Merits

• It involves learner centred approach.
• It provides better opportunities for the utilization of one's cognitive abilities to acquire information,generalized insight and problem solving skills and, in turn, helps in the proper development of one's intellectual powers.
• Teaching at reflective level is helpful in making the classroom environment quite democratic, healthy, lively and exciting. There is a free and useful interaction between the teachers and the pupils. Pupils are allowed to be critical.

Demerits

• In the reflective level with the absence course material, the students are unable to acquire the systematic knowledge of the subject material pertaining to the school subjects.
• The freedom and flexibility enjoyed by the students in the unstructured learning situation may drift the students from the learning path. They can waste time and energy in the discovery of the facts, raising irrelevant questions and pursuing meaningless investigation.
• Despite the wider claims of its application in the learning of all school levels, its field is quite limited to practical sense.
• It requires more efforts on the part of the teachers. They have to gain mastery over the facts and generalized insight often cutting across various subjects and life situations.

4.3 MODELS OF TEACHING – MEANING

A Model of Teaching is an instructional plan or instructional pattern based on a specific learning theory. For a long time the focus of educational psychology has been only on learning but now there is a shift of emphasis from learning to teaching leading to effective learning. A model of teaching description of a learning environment. The descriptions have many uses, ranging from planning curriculum, courses, units and lessons to design instructional materials. Joyce & Weil (2003) defined teaching models as "a pattern or plan that we can use to design face to face teaching in classrooms or tutorial settings and shape instructional materials". Eggen (1979) defines that "Models are prescriptive teaching strategies which help to realize specific instructional goals".

BASIC ELEMENTS OF A MODEL

A modern teaching model consists of following elements

1. Focus

It is the theme of the teaching model. The objectives of the teaching constitute the focus of the model

2. Syntax

It describes the model in action. They are the phases of models or sequence of activities. It includes the sequence of steps involved in the organization of the complete programme of teaching.

3. Social System

It explains structure of learning environment in the classroom. It is the nature of environment of the classroom. It describes the students and teachers’ roles and relationships, and kinds of norms that are emerged. The leadership roles of the teacher vary greatly from model to model. In some models, the teacher is the centre of activity, the sources of information and the organizer and pacer of situations (highly structured). Some models distribution of activity equally between teacher and students (Moderately structured) where as others placed students as the centre (Low structured).

4. Principles of Reaction

These are the rules to be followed by the teacher in responding to the learner. It tells the teacher how to regard the learner and how to respond to what the learner does. Principles of reaction provides the teacher with rules of thumb by which to tune into the student and select appropriate response to what the student does.

5. Support System

It is the additional requirements for teaching or any support for teaching that may beyond usual human skills, capacities and technical facilities. Eg: support in terms of books, films, aids, travel, experts etc

6. Instructional and Nurturant Effects

Instructional effects are those directly achieved by leading the learner in certain direction (Explicit effects) - cognitive effects. Nurturant effects means indirect effects of the model or hidden effects (implicit effect) in the learning environment which are affective changes in the learner.

FAMILIES OF MODELS OF TEACHING

The models of teaching developed by Joyce & Weil (2003) and associates are categorised into four major families: A family emphasizes number of teaching models having the same basic theoretical foundation and orientation towards how an individual learn.

1. The Social Family

When we work together we generate a collective energy that we call synergy. The social models of teaching are constructed to take advantage of this phenomenon by building learning communities. This family includes the following teaching models.

Partners in learning   - David Johnson & Roger Johnson  

Group investigation - John Dewey & Herbert Thelen

Role playing - Fannie Shaftel

Jurisprudential inquiry - Donald Oliver & James shaver   

2. The Information Processing Family

Information processing models emphasize ways of enhancing human being's innate drive to make sense of the world by acquiring and organizing data, sensing problems and generating solutions to them, and developing concepts and language conveying them. This model is generally based upon the idea that learners are coherent information processing systems. They teach students how to think effectively. Some information processing models are:

Inductive thinking - Hilda Taba

Concept attainment - J.S.Bruner

Advance organisers - Ausubel

Synetics - Bill Gordon

Inquiry training - Richard Suchman

3. The Personal Family

Personal models play great attention to the individual perspective and seeks to encourage productive independence, so that people become increasingly self aware and responsible for their own destinies. Development of unique personality and personal consciousness from the learners' own perspective and experience is the basis of models came under personal family. This includes the following models of teaching.

Non directive teaching - Carl Rogers

Enhancing self esteem - Abraham Maslow

Awareness Training model - Fritz Pearls

4. The Behavioral Modification Family

Behaviour modification guides the design of the models in this family. These models concentrate on observable behavioral patterns. They have evolved from the attempts to develop efficient systems for sequencing learning tasks and shaping the behavior through management of reinforcers.

Mastery learning - Benjamin S. Bloom

Simulation - Carl Smith & Mary Smith

Social learning -  Albert Bandura

Programmed learning -B.F. Skinner.

4.4 TEAM TEACHING

The concept 'Team-Teaching' has its origin from America during the mid 1950. Team teaching is an arrangement in which two or more teachers co-operatively plan, teach and evaluate  one or more groups to take advantage of the special competencies of the members. In which two or more teachers are given responsibility of working together for the same group of students.

Guiding Principles

• Principal of pooling the resources
• Principal of  joint responsibility and cooperation
• Principal of attending the needs of students
• Principal of flexibility in terms of grouping and scheduling
• Principal of appropriate selection of team members
• Principal of willingness and appropriate distribution of the responsibilities
• Principal of appropriate teaching-learning environment
• Principal of supervision and evaluation

Types of Team Teaching

There are various ways to classify the team teaching but a better way is to classify it on the basis of its organization. Team teaching may be organized mainly in the three types.

a. Intra department team teaching. This type of team teaching can be organized at each level of education if there are more than two teachers for the same subject in the same department.

b. Inter department team teaching. This type of team teaching can be organized effectively in education and training department. The experts of psycho- sociology and philosophy departments may be invited to teach the students of education along with the department personals. The approach can be utilized to encourage interdisciplinary approach in teaching.

c. Inter institution team teaching. This type of team teaching can be organised at every level of education. The experts of the subject from other institution may be invited to take classes co-operatively with the department personals.

Steps in Team Teaching

The team teaching has the following three steps.

1. Planning. Planning is the first step in team teaching in which the objectives of team teaching are formulated. In this step, plan the topic to be taught and prepare a time schedule. Assigning duties to teacher is an important aspect in planning. Selection of teaching aids and devising evaluation tools are also comes under the purview of planning stage.

2. Execution. It is the actual classroom teaching phase. The selection of appropriate communication strategy presentation of lecture and supervision of follow-up work, providing motivation to students and supervising students activities are some of the procedure in the execution phase.

3. Evaluation. Evaluation is helpful to measure the performance of learners which determines about the objectives whether they can be achieved or not. It also provides the reinforcements to team of the teachers and the learners. It will help to take decision about the level of performance and realization of objectives. It also helps to diagnose students difficulties.

Advantages

• It utilizes the competencies of teachers

• It creates the learning environment to the mastery over the content.

• It provides an opportunity for free discussion in the classroom teaching.

• It provides teachers to improve their professional status.

• It exposes the learners to be more specialist of the subject and they are benefited by the special knowledge of various teachers.

• It consider the difficulties of pupils.

• It utilizes the teaching aids and equipments of teaching in an appropriate manner.

• It is an economical teaching device.

• It is highly flexible method of teaching.

Limitations

• It is very difficult to seek co-operation among teachers and enables them to work jointly.

• It is not feasible in practice to assign power and responsibilities to a group of teachers.

• There is no mutual regard and respect among t the teachers.

• The teachers do not have time to deviate from the routine method of teaching and they do not prefer change in the system of education.

DIFFERENTIAL TEACHING-CONCEPTUAL OVERVIEW

Just as everyone has a unique fingerprint, each student has an individual style of learning. Not all students in a classroom learn a subject in the same way or share the same level of ability. Differentiated instruction is a method of designing and delivering instruction to best reach each student. It is 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.

Teachers can differentiate instruction through four ways: 1) content, 2) process, 3) product, and 4) learning environment.

1. Content

Fundamental lesson content should cover the standards of learning set by the school district or state educational standards. 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.The teacher may differentiate the content by designing activities for groups of students that cover various levels.

Students who are unfamiliar with a lesson may be required to complete tasks on the lower levels: remembering and understanding. Students with some mastery may be asked to apply and analyze the content, and students who have high levels of mastery may 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.
• 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. Not all students require the same amount of support from the teacher, and students could choose to work in pairs, small groups or individually. While some students may benefit from one-on-one interaction with a teacher or classroom aide, others may be 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 audio books.
• Give kinesthetic learners the opportunity 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. Teachers may 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, 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.

Merits

• 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 material, they take on more responsibility for their own learning.
• Students appear to be more engaged in learning, and there are reportedly fewer discipline problems in classrooms where teachers provide differentiated lessons.

Demerits

• Differentiated instruction requires more work during lesson planning, and many teachers struggle to find the extra time in their schedule.
• Critics argue there isn’t enough research to support the benefits of differentiated instruction outweighing the added prep time.