THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA OEI 101

Transcription

1 THE OPEN UNIVERSITY OF TANZANIA FACULTY OF EDUCATION OEI 101 CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION Felix Mulengeki Jesse Lukindo Mary Ogondiek Agatha Mgogo

2 OEI 101 CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION Felix Mulengeki, Lecturer Jesse Lukindo, Assistant Lecturer Mary Ogondiek, Assistant Lecturer Agatha Mgogo, Assistant Lecturer Faculty of Education The Open University of Tanzania The Open University of Tanzania P.O. Box 23409, DAR ES SALAAM Tel: / , Fax: Web:

3 The Open University of Tanzania Kawawa Road P.O. Box Dar es Salaam TANZANIA. The Open University of Tanzania, 2013 ISBN First Edition, 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of The Open University of Tanzania.

4 CONTENTS General Introduction...x Section One... 1 Curriculum Development... 1 Lecture One... 2 Basic Concepts in Curriculum and Curriculum Development Introduction... Error! Bookmark not defined. 1.2 What is Curriculum? What is Curriculum Development? Elements of Curriculum Functions of Curriculum Objectives... 6 LECTURE TWO INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Introduction Definitions of Instructional Goals and Objectives Characteristics of Instructional Objectives Classification of Instructional Objectives Cognitive Instructional Objectives Affective Instructional Objectives Psychomotor Domain LECTURE THREE CURRICULUM CONTENT Introduction Meaning of Curriculum Content Sources of Curriculum Content Criteria for Selecting the Content Applicability Emphasis on Mechanism Learnability Goal Validity iii

5 3.4.5 Accountability and Reliability Scope and Sequence In Organization of the Curriculum Content Scope of the Curriculum LECTURE FOUR CURRICULUM DESIGN Introduction What is Curriculum Design? Common Elements of A Curriculum Framework Types of Curriculum Designs Content-Based Curriculum Problem Centered Design Learner-Centred Design Principles for Curriculum Design LECTURE FIVE IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION OF CURRICULUM Introduction... Error! Bookmark not defined. 5.2 Curriculum Implementation Pre Testing and Piloting Monitoring and Evaluating the Curriculum Resources for Curriculum Implementation Teachers Learners Instructional Resources/Materials and Learning Facilities Interest Groups Culture and Ideology Instructional Supervision Assessment The School Environment Curriculum Evaluation Functions of Curriculum Evaluation at Different Levels of Implementation iv

6 5.4.2 Types of Curriculum Evaluation Phases of Curriculum Evaluation LECTURE SIX CURRICULUM CHANGE AND INNOVATION Introduction... Error! Bookmark not defined. 6.2 Defining Curriculum Change and Innovation Curriculum Change Curriculum Innovation Curriculum Change and Curriculum Innovation Compared Factors Influencing Curriculum Change and Innovation Sources of Curriculum Change and Innovation Strategies and Models for Curriculum Change and Innovation Planning and Executing Change SECTION TWO EDUCATION MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY LECTURE SEVEN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY Introduction What is Technology? Conceptualizing Educational Technology Categorization of Classroom Educational Technologies Expository Technologies Application Technologies Communication Technologies Roles of Educational Technologies in Teaching and Learning LECTURE EIGHT COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA IN EDUCATION Introduction Meaning of Communication Purposes of Communication Communication Theories v

7 8.5 Perspectives of Communication Theories Behavioural Perspective Transitional Perspective Interactional Perspective Transactional Perspective Types and Components of Communication Theories Success and Barriers of Communication Functions of Communication Educational Media Types of Educational Media Functions and Importance of Media in Education Settings LECTURE NINE TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCES Introduction... Error! Bookmark not defined. 9.2 Meaning of Teaching and Learning Resources Human Resources Objects Specimen Places Outdoor Laboratory Libraries Management of Resources SECTION THREE LEARNING THEORIES AND TEACHING LECTURE TEN EVOLUTION OF THE LEARNING THEORY Introduction... Error! Bookmark not defined Meaning of Theory Development of the Learning Theory Classical Explanations about Learning Behavioural Explanations about Learning vi

8 10.6 The Behaviourist Theory and its Influence on Teaching Strengths and Limitations of the Behaviourist Learning Theory Constructivist Explanations about Learning The Constructivist Theory and its Influence on Teaching Strengths and Limitations of the Constructivist Theory LECTURE ELEVEN LEARNING IN COGNITIVE THEORIES Introduction Psychological Constructivism Assimilation and Accommodation Reflection Social Learning Theories Theories of Learning and Views on Teaching LECTURE TWELVE THE INFLUENCES OF LEARNING THEORIES ON TEACHING Introduction Models of Teaching Bruner s Discovery Learning Model Ausubel s Presentation Model of Teaching Gagne s Instructional Design Model Teaching as Imparting vis-à-vis Empowerment of Learners LECTURE THIRTEEN TEACHING FOR MEANINGFUL LEARNING Introduction Background to Efforts to Improve Schools-Based Teaching Learner-Centred Education Worldwide Effort Towards Learning-Centred Education Current Efforts to Improve Teaching in Tanzania The Challenges ahead in Tanzania Linking In And Out-Of School Knowledge Decontextualised School Knowledge vii

9 13.9 Decontextualised School Knowledge and Text-Based Prescriptions Learning Outside School Possibilities of Linking School Learning and out-of-school Learning 155 SECTION FOUR STATISTICS AND EVALUATION IN EDUCATION LECTURE FOURTEEN STATISTICAL TERMS AND NOTATIONS Introduction Definition of Common Statistical Terms Branches of Statistics Statistic Statistical Methods Population Sample Sample Size Parameters Variables Classification of Variables Levels or Scales of Measurement Notations LECTURE FIFTEEN FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION AND GRAPHICAL DATA PRESENTATION Introduction Raw Scores Frequency Frequency Distribution Frequency Distribution Table (FDT) LECTURE SIXTEEN MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY Introduction viii

10 16.2 Definition The Mean The Mode (MO) The Median (Mdn) Choice of Measures of Central Tendency The level/scale of Measurement Shape of the Distribution LECTURE SEVENTEEN MEASURES OF DISPERSION Introduction Meaning of Measures of Dispersion The Range (R) Semi-Interquartile Range (Q) The Average Deviation (AD) ix

11 GENERAL INTRODUCTION This is a foundation and basic course to student teachers, exposing them to important issues and basic matters in teaching and learning processes. It is a core course to all level teachers as it gives them the ability and potential in instructional designing, content presentation and evaluation of teaching and learning processes. The course exposes student teachers into important curriculum matters (elements, sources, development, designing, evaluation and implementation of curriculum), application of media and technology in education, measurement and evaluation in learning, different teaching and learning theories, as well the use of statistics in teaching and learning settings. It is divided into four sections which are sub-titled Curriculum development, Educational Media and Technology, Learning Theories and Teaching, and Statistics and Evaluation in Education. COURSE OBJECTIVES Curriculum development and evaluation as a foundation course to student teachers has important ten objectives: (i) To understand the meaning of various terms in curriculum, educational technology, teaching and learning theories as well as in measurement and evaluation; (ii) To understand and interpret education aims, goals and objectives; (iii) To understand the basic elements of a curriculum, factors for curriculum development as well as different designs of curriculum; (iv) To be aware with curriculum change and innovation; (v) To understand principles involved in curriculum development, implementation and evaluation; x

12 (vi) To understand the concepts and theories of media and technology as applied in education settings; (vii) To be aware with, teaching and learning resources; (viii) To understand the application of different teaching and learning theories in the teaching profession; (ix) To understand the application of statistics in the teaching and learning processes; (x) To understand evaluation and measurement in teaching and learning process. Expected Learning Outcomes At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to: (i) Define important concepts relating to curriculum, evaluation, and educational statistics; (ii) Explain and apply different theories of media, communication and technology in teaching and learning process; (iii) Discuss elements of curriculum planning and factors influencing curriculum development; (iv) Use different learning and teaching theories in school settings; (v) Measure and evaluate teaching and learning process; (vi) Apply principles of curriculum development, implementation and evaluation in teaching and learning process; (vii) Measure, interpret and evaluate the learning process; (viii) Use statistics in the interpretation of teaching and learning process. xi

13 SECTION ONE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT Curriculum is the focal point of any education system. Generally students attend school to learn something and what the school intends for them to learn is embodied in the curriculum. This then, makes curriculum development the highest priority of schools. However, developing an effective curriculum is not a very simple thing. It depends on one s understanding of a body of knowledge and on a set of sophisticated abilities that are optimally developed through a variety of fields of experiences over time. This course therefore introduces educators to essential knowledge and abilities for working as active curriculum practitioners. SECTION OBJECTIVES After completing this section, you should be able to: (i) Understand the meaning of various terms of curriculum; (ii) Understand the basic elements of curriculum, factors that influence curriculum development as well as the different designs of curriculum; (iii) Be aware of curriculum change and innovation; (iv) Understand the principles involved in curriculum development, implementation and evaluation. Expected Learning Outcomes (i) Define important concepts relating to curriculum; (ii) Discuss elements of curriculum and factors influencing curriculum development; (iii) Apply principles of curriculum development, implementation and evaluation in the teaching and learning process; 1

14 LECTURE ONE BASIC CONCEPTS IN CURRICULUM AND CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT 1.1 INTRODUCTION This lecture introduces you to the concepts of curriculum and curriculum development. It provides the different views of looking at the concepts, either as a process or cycle which entail such elements as aims, goals, and objectives; content teaching and learning experiences, and evaluation. LECTURE OBJECTIVES By the end of this lecture you should be able to: (i) Define the concepts of curriculum and curriculum development (ii) Compare and contrast various views of curriculum (iii) Differentiate aims, goals and objectives of curriculum (iv) Identify the sources and functions of curriculum objectives. 1.2 WHAT IS CURRICULUM? This sub-section begins by defining the term curriculum as discussed by various scholars. It is then followed by analysis of the contradicting views of curriculum, ending with a summary of general views of the term. Curriculum has been a confusing term for many years now. Throughout the history of education, specialists in curriculum have failed to strike a balance on which should be the best definition of the term curriculum. Literature shows that curriculum has been variably defined by authors depending on contexts. Different people, educational institutions, parts of educational institutions as well as authors perceive the term curriculum differently. There is no single definition of the term curriculum. You, as well, after reading various definitions from various authors, may come up with your own definition. 2

15 The term curriculum originated from a Greek word curere which means running a course. Therefore curriculum entails a course of subjects which have to be covered by learners so that they can achieve certain educational goals and or objectives. Some authors view curriculum as a characteristic of schools; for example Tyler (1949) defines it as all of the learning of students which is planned and directed by the school to attain its educational goals. Kerr (1968) as well, conceives curriculum as all the learning which is planned or guided by the school, carried on in groups or individually, inside or outside the class. Doll (1978) conceives curriculum to be all the experiences that learners have under the auspices of the school. Other authors look at curriculum in terms of the elements it comprises; for example Taylor (1978) views it as incorporating content, teaching methods and purpose. Posner (1995) adds a focus to these elements and describes curriculum as the content or objectives for which schools hold students accountable. This implies that students are the focus of any curriculum in a school. Tarner and Tarner (1980) summarize by giving a multi-dimensional description of curriculum that it is one or more between cumulative tradition of organized knowledge; race experiences; models of thought; planned learning environment; cognitive/ affective content and processes; instructional plans, ends and or outcomes; and technology system of production. According to Marsh and Willis (1995) curriculum is an interrelated set of plans and experiences which a student completes under the guidance of school. As you have observed, these are only a few definitions amongst others. These definitions however, portray contradictions on how curriculum can be viewed. You can find out that most of these definitions stress on content, objectives, learning experiences and methodologies. Some have incorporated one or another element and ignored others. However, as we go along, one needs to find a more general definition which incorporates all important elements, because each definition in isolation from others has limitations. For instance, by defining curriculum as all experiences learners have, or content or objectives for which a student is held accountable, it does not depict a clear picture of what or how a curriculum should be. If we look at curriculum as a written plan which drives instructions, we realize that it delineates the skills and 3

16 concepts taught and evaluated to enhance student achievement. It therefore refers to the content area or philosophy, strands with definitions, programme goals, aligned scope and sequence, learner outcomes and assessment tools. Any critical look at many of afore given definitions would bring to surface that what all authors give is important as descriptions of curriculum but none of them provides a full representation of the term. This suggests that on studying curriculum one is likely to come across many definitions which he or she must carefully analyze into pertinent elements to later synthesize into own general definition. ACTIVITY Dear student, can you find out important aspects various authors use to define curriculum? List and synthesize them into your own definition of the concept. Discuss the definition with your friend or instructor to appraise its authenticity. Dear student in your daily reading you will come across several terms which are commonly used in understanding of curriculum. These include curriculum development, curriculum design and curriculum planning. 1.3 WHAT IS CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT? This Sub-section exposes you to the curriculum development process. In the previous sub-section we have seen one of the definitions of curriculum as all the experiences that a learner has under the auspices of the school. This definition shows curriculum as a vehicle to smoothly keep the school running. The process through which this vehicle is obtained is known as curriculum development. In some instances, curriculum development is used interchangeably with curriculum planning, curriculum improvement or evaluation. Looking at curriculum in terms of this process implies identifying the elements involved in it. What are these elements? Elements of Curriculum The nature of the elements and the manner in which they are organized may comprise what is referred to as curriculum design. There are about four sets of these elements. The first set comprises the aims, goals and objectives which a given curriculum intends to achieve. Whereas curriculum aims refer to overall 4

17 intent or focus of education, goals and objectives are somewhat synonymous referring to ends that education purports. Aims are broad statements that provide direction or intent to educational action. Aims are usually written in amorphous terms using words like: learn, know, understand, appreciate, and these are not directly measurable. Aims may serve as organizing principles of educational direction for more than one grade. Indeed these organizing principles may encompass the continuum of educational direction for entire programmes, subject areas or the district. Curriculum developers divide aims into three levels: national, school and individual aims. For example: To promote the acquisition and appropriate use of literary, social, scientific, vocational, technological, professional and other forms of knowledge, skills and understanding for the development and improvement of the condition of man and the society. Goals are manifested in the visions and missions of education and schooling in a given society. They are statements of educational intention, somewhat more specific compared to aims but vague compared to objectives. Goals too may encompass an entire programme, subject area, or multiple grade levels. They may be in either amorphous language or in more specific behavioral terms. The goals of education reflect perceived needs and expectations of the society. Curriculum decisions are made within the context of these goals. It is important that goals determine content. Allowances must be made for variations in curriculum content to reflect the unique needs of communities in general and of students in particular. Thus a close association among those who set goals, create content and implement curriculum is essential. For example: Goals for education include possession of respect for self and others, a sense of social responsibility, feelings of self-worth and integrity and the knowledge, skills (including ethical and living skills) and attitudes required in a democratic society. Characteristics of curriculum goals Relate to aims and philosophy of the educational of that particular community Are programmes which have been designed Relate to accomplishment of learners in general 5

18 Are stated in general terms that provide direction for curriculum development Are broad enough to lead to specific curriculum objectives Objectives are more specific statements showing what particular students must achieve, say in a particular class. They are defined as outcomes and stated in specific measurable terms. These specific statements of educational intention are usually immediate, measurable and unambiguous delineating either general or specific outcomes. Curriculum objectives can be written in a number of ways. One way is writing them in behavioural terms. Behavioural objectives employ observable behaviours divided into specific domains, i.e. cognitive, affective or psychomotor. Cognitive: students will identify and list any five slang terms they have heard from their peers. Affective: students will choose three of the most offensive slang terms from a list developed by the entire class. Psychomotor: students will create expressive gestures to go with their favourite slang terms Functions of Curriculum Objectives According to Taba (1962) the chief functions of curriculum objectives are: Guiding the process of decision making on what to cover, what to emphasize what content to select and which learning experiences to stress. Setting the scope and the limits for what is to be taught and learned. Helping the selection of areas of knowledge in various discipline objectives Serving as a guide for the evaluation of achievements. The second set of the elements of curriculum consists of the content or subject matter. It is the information to be learned in schools. It is the totality of facts, concepts, generalizations, principles, theories or any other issues intended for students learning in schools. The curriculum is referred to as subject-centered if the knowledge or content intended represents the repository of accumulated discoveries and inventions of man down the centuries due to man s exploration 6

19 of the world. A subject-centered curriculum therefore glorifies the subject rather than the learner in pursuit of that knowledge. On the other hand, curriculum is referred to as learner-centered if it purports to relate the acquired knowledge to the learner s personal and social world and how he or she defines reality. In this view, knowledge is a model we construct to give meaning and structure to regularities in personal experiences. In all cases, selection of curriculum content is based on six criteria: Self-sufficiency, i.e. the content must allow for less teaching effort and educational resources, less learner s effort but more results and effective learning outcomes. It should be a content that can be taught in most economical manner. Significance, i.e. the content which contributes to basic ideas to achieve overall aim of curriculum; develop learning skills. Validity, i.e. meaningful content to the learners based on maturity, prior experience, educational and social value. Utility, i.e. the usefulness of the content either for the present or the future. Learnability, i.e. selecting the content within the range of the experience of the learners. Feasibility, i.e. the content which can be learned within allowed time, resources available, expertise of the teacher and nature of learner. Organization of content in a curriculum leans on principles emanating from the characteristics about the learner, society and resources at disposal. Palma (1992) recommends consideration of the following principles in organizing the curriculum content: Balance; i.e. curriculum content should be fairly distributed in depth and breadth of the particular learning are or discipline. This will ensure that the level or area will not be overcrowded or less crowded. 7

20 Articulation; i.e. each level of subject matter should be smoothly connected to the next, glaring gaps or wasteful overlaps in the subject matter will be avoided. Sequence; i.e. the logical arrangement of the subject matter. It refers to the deepening and broadening of content as it is taken up in the higher levels. Integration; i.e. horizontal connections are needed in subject areas that are similar so that learning will be elated to one another. Continuity; i.e. a continued application of the acquired knowledge, skills, attitudes or values so that they are used in daily lives. It is the constant repetition, review and reinforcement of learning in learners daily lives. The third set of the elements in curriculum development constitutes the teachinglearning experiences that a curriculum should entail. This is manifested in the teachers decisions about the instructional strategies and methods linking to curriculum experiences. These instructional strategies and methods put the goals and use of the content into action in order to produce intended outcomes. They convert the written curriculum to classroom instructions. Whatever methods that the teacher decides to utilize to implement a curriculum, there are some assumptions guiding the selection and use of teaching strategies. These include: Teaching methods are means to achieve the end, not ends themselves. There is no single best teaching method Teaching methods should stimulate the learner s desire to develop the cognitive, affective, psychomotor, social and spiritual domain of the individual The choice of teaching methods should consider the learning styles of the students. Every method should lead to the development of the learning outcome in three domains Flexibility should be a consideration in the use of any teaching method. 8

21 The fourth element refers to strategies for evaluation of curriculum. Evaluation refers to the formal determination of the quality, effectiveness or value of the program, process, and product of the curriculum. Whatever the methods and materials utilized, evaluation of curriculum will entail consideration and determination of the following: Focusing on one particular component of the curriculum, i.e. will it be subject area, the grade level, the course, competences or otherwise? The objectives of evaluation must be specific. Collection or gathering of the information required in evaluation, i.e. data and collection methods regarding the object of evaluation. Organization of the information, i.e. coding, organizing, storing and retrieving data for interpretation. Analysis of information, i.e. determination of appropriate way for analyzing the information. Reporting, i.e. the report of evaluation should target specific audiences. It can be done formally in conferences with stakeholders, informally through round table discussion and conversations or otherwise. Recycling the information for continuous feedback, modifications and adjustments to be made. SUMMARY In this lecture we tried to revisit various definitions of the term curriculum. The lecture also exposes you to curriculum development process which is defined as a vehicle through which the school keeps running. We were also exposed to important elements of curriculum which include four sets. The first set constitutes aims, goals and objectives. We also highlighted on the characteristics of curriculum goals. The domains of curriculum objectives were categorized as cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Other sets include content or subject matter, learning experience and evaluation. 9

22 EXERCISES 1. In your own words define the term curriculum. 2. With reasons mention what you think should be included in the definition of curriculum. REFERENCES Eisner, E. W. (1994). The Educational Imagination: On Design and Evaluation of School Programmes, 3 rd edition. New York: Macmillan. Kerr, J. (1968). Changing the Curriculum. London: University of London Press Print, M. (1993). Curriculum Development and Design, 2 nd edtion. St. Leonards, NSW: Allen and Unwin. 10

23 LECTURE TWO INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 2.1 INTRODUCTION In the previous lecture we tried to look at goals, aims and objectives at curriculum level. We now turn to instructional goals and objectives at classroom level. The lecture will introduce you to the three classifications of instructional objectives; namely cognitive, affective and psychomotor. These classifications are very crucial in determining the various changes to take place in students. LECTURE OBJECTIVES By the end of this lecture you should be able to: (i) Define instructional goals and objectives (ii) Identify the characteristics of well-stated instructional goals and objectives (iii) Explain the importance of instructional goals and objectives (iv) Identify and state instructional goals and objectives in respective domains. 2.2 DEFINITIONS OF INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES An instructional goal is defined as a statement that expresses the changes that ought to take place in students, without criteria of achievement and or degree of performance. It states categorically the expected performance or change in each student in a class. Most teachers use instructional objectives as general objectives. Here are some examples: The students will show an understanding of how the sun is essential to life on the earth. The students will demonstrate an understanding of the environmental impact of solar energy. The students will recognize various forms of energy. 11

24 Instructional objectives on the other hand are derived from instructional goals. They are statements of performance to be demonstrated by each student in the class; phrased in measurable and observable terms. They are sometimes referred to as behaviuoral objectives, performance objectives or competency objectives. Instructional objectives are statements of what the teacher intends to do to enable students achieve certain things in a given time and environment. They can also be a manifestation of topics or concepts to be covered in a course to bring about change in learner s behaviour. The rationale of instructional objectives to teachers is: (i) To make them precise about what she/ he wants to accomplish (ii) To enable them communicate to pupils what they must achieve (iii) To enable them easily evaluate procedure (iv) To make accountability possible (v) To simplify sequencing of teaching and procedures (vi) To make the students aware of what they are expected to learn in a given lesson 2.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES Most instructional objectives indicate: (i) Behaviour expected on the part of the student (ii) Qualifying conditions or restrictions that must exist for the expected behaviour to be acceptable (iii) Degree of mastery. Here are some examples of instructional objectives: At the end of the lesson students should be able to name the main factors that hinder the provision of student services in most distance education institutions At the end of the lesson students will be able to identify and explain the main causes of air pollution At the end of the lesson students will be able to describe the processes of water pollution. ACTIVITY Dear student, can you now - on your own, make some statements of goals and instructional objectives? Do the three characteristics exist in every instructional objective you have made? 12

25 2.4 CLASSIFICATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES Bloom (1956) and his colleagues developed a taxonomy of educational objectives which we still find useful in extending our thinking beyond simple recall and procedural skills. According to them, there was more than one type of learning. They identified three types (domains) namely cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Cognitive domain involves knowledge and the development of intellectual skills. It includes the recall or recognition of specific facts, procedural patterns and concepts that serve in the development of intellectual abilities and skills. Affective domain includes the manner in which we deal with things emotionally, such as feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasms, motivation and attitudes. Psychomotor domain includes physical movement, coordination and uses the motor-skill areas. Development of these skills requires practice and is measured in terms of speed, precision, distance, procedures and or techniques in execution. In spite of ensuring the goals for the class, they address the full range of attributes the teacher would like to see in the students Cognitive Instructional Objectives The taxonomy provides a hierarchy of complexity which guides sequencing of instructions to build simpler cognitive tasks. According to Bloom; there are six major categories of cognitive instructional objectives, listed from the simplest to the most complex behaviour. The categories are thought of as degrees of difficulty, i.e. the assumption that the first, simple ones have to be mastered before the next, complex ones can take place. For example the earliest stages of a topic might concentrate on comprehension before moving quickly to synthesis and evaluation. Bloom classified the cognitive domain into six categories as summarized in Table 2.1 Table 2.1: Key words in stating Cognitive Domain Category Example and Key Words (verbs) 1. Knowledge: Recalling data or information Examples: Recite a formula; quote statements from texts, read, or know the safety rules. Key Words: define, describe, identify, know, label, list, match, name, outline, recall, recognize, reproduce, select, state 13

26 2. Comprehension: Understanding the meaning, translation, interpolation and or interpretation of instructions and problems. Stating a problem in one's own words. 2. Application: Using a concept in a new situation or unprompted use of an abstraction. Applying what was learned in the classroom into novel situations in the work place. 3. Analysis: Separating materials or concepts into component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. Distinguishing between facts and inferences. 5. Synthesis: Building a structure or pattern from diverse elements. Putting parts together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new meaning or Examples: Rewrite the principles of test writing. Explain in one's own words the steps for performing a complex task. Translate an equation into a computer spreadsheet. Key Words: Comprehend, convert, defend, distinguish, estimate, explain, extend, generalize, give an example, infer, interpret, paraphrase, predict, rewrite, summarize and or translate. Examples: Use a manual to calculate students vacation time. Apply laws of statistics to evaluate the reliability of a written test. Key Words: apply, change, compute, construct, demonstrate, discover, manipulate, modify, operate, predict, prepare, produce, relate, show, solve and or use. Examples: Troubleshoot a piece of equipment by using logical deduction. Recognize logical fallacies in reasoning. Gather information from a department and selects the required tasks for training. Key Words: analyzes, breaks-down, compares, contrasts, draws, deconstructs, differentiates, discriminates, distinguishes, identifies, illustrates, infers, outlines, relates, selects and or separates. Examples: Write a school operations or process manual. Design a tool to perform a specific task. Integrates training from several sources to solve a problem. Revise and process to improve the outcome. Key Words: categorizes, combines, compiles, composes, creates, devises, designs, explains, 14

27 structure. 6. Evaluation: Making judgments about the value of ideas or materials. Source: Bloom et al., 1956 generates, modifies, organizes, plans, rearrange, reconstructs, relates, reorganizes, revises, rewrites, summarizes, tests and or writes. Examples: Select the most effective solution. Admit the most qualified candidate. Explain and justify a new budget. Key Words: Appraises, compares, concludes, contrasts, criticizes, defends, describes, discriminates, evaluates, explains, interprets, justifies, relates, summarizes and or supports Affective Instructional Objectives This domain emphasizes the interests, values and appreciation of the individual. According to Bloom (1956), five major categories of instructional objectives in the affective domain also proceed from the simplest behaviour to the most complex as summarized in Table 2.2. Table 2.2: Key Words in Stating Effective Domain Category Example and Key Words (verbs) Examples: Listens to others with respect. Listen for and remember the name of Receiving a phenomenon: newly introduced people. Awareness, willingness to hear, Key Words: asks, chooses, describes, selected attention. follows, gives, holds, identifies, locates, names, points to, selects, sits, erects, replies and or uses. Examples: Participates in class Responding to a phenomenon: discussions. Gives a presentation. Learner active participation; attending Questions new ideals, concepts, models, and reacting to particular phenomena; etc. in order to fully understand them; learning outcomes emphasizing Knows the safety rules and practices them. compliance to respond or satisfaction Key Words: answers, assists, aids, in responding (motivation). complies, conforms, discusses, greets, 15

28 Valuing: The worth or value a person attaches to a particular object, phenomenon, or behavior; ranging from simple acceptance to the more complex state of commitment. Organization: Organizing values into priorities by contrasting different values, resolving conflicts between them, and creating a unique value system; emphasizing comparisons, relationships and synthesis of values. Internalizing values (characterization): Has a value system helps, labels, performs, practices, presents, reads, recites, reports, selects, tells and or writes. Examples: Demonstrates belief in the democratic process; Is sensitive towards individual and cultural differences (value diversity); Shows the ability to solve problems; Proposes a plan to social improvement and follows through with commitment; Informs management on matters that one feels strongly about. Key Words: completes, demonstrates, differentiates, explains, follows, forms, initiates, invites, joins, justifies, proposes, reads, reports, selects, shares, studies and or works.. Examples: Recognizes the need for balance between freedom and responsible behaviour. Accepts responsibility for one's behaviour. Explains the role of systematic planning in solving problems. Accepts professional ethical standards. Creates a life plan in harmony with abilities, interests, and beliefs. Prioritizes time effectively to meet the needs of the organization, family, and self. Key Words: adheres, alters, arranges, combines, compares, completes, defends, explains, formulates, generalizes, identifies, integrates, modifies, orders, organizes, prepares, relates, synthesizes. Examples: Shows self-reliance when working independently; Cooperates in 16

29 that controls their behavior. The behavior is pervasive, consistent, predictable, and most importantly, characteristic of the learner. Instructional objectives are concerned with the student's general patterns of adjustment (personal, social, emotional). Source: Bloom (1956) group activities (displays teamwork); Uses an objective approach in problem solving; Displays a professional commitment to ethical practice on a daily basis; Revises judgments and changes behaviour in light of new evidence; Values people for what they are, not how they look. Key Words: act, discriminates, displays, influences, listens, modifies, performs, practices, proposes, qualifies, questions, revises, serves, solves, verifies Psychomotor Domain This involves behaviour that emphasizes physical and muscular skills or body movements. Harrow (1972) presents taxonomy of the psycho-motor domain to furnish curriculum planners with a method of selecting and organizing movement related activities. The psychomotor skills are also listed from lower to higher order behaviour beginning with simple behavior such as reflex movements. Seven major categories are as follows: Table 2.3: Key Words in Stating Psychomotor Instructional Objective Domain Category Example and Key Words (verbs) Perception: The ability to use sensory cues to guide motor activity. This ranges from sensory stimulation, through cue selection, to translation. Examples: Detects non-verbal communication cues; e.g. estimating where a ball will land after it is thrown and then moving to the correct location to catch the ball, adjusting heat of stove to correct temperature by smell and taste of food, etc. Key Words: chooses, describes, detects, 17

30 Set: Readiness to act. It includes mental, physical, and emotional sets, i.e. dispositions or mindsets that predetermine a person's response to different situations. Guided Response: The early stages in learning a complex skill that includes imitation and trial and error. Adequacy of performance is achieved by practicing. Mechanism: This is the intermediate stage in learning a complex skill. Learned responses have become habitual and the movements can be performed with some confidence and proficiency. Complex Overt Response: The skillful performance of motor acts that involve complex movement patterns. Proficiency is indicated by a quick, accurate, and highly coordinated performance, requiring a differentiates, distinguishes, identifies, isolates, relates and or selects. Examples: Knows and acts upon a sequence of steps in a manufacturing process; recognizes one's abilities and limitations; shows desire to learn a new process (motivation). NOTE: This subdivision of psychomotor is closely related with the Responding to phenomena subdivision of the Affective domain. Key Words: Begins, displays, explains, moves, proceeds, reacts, shows, states and volunteers. Examples: Performs a mathematical equation as demonstrated, follows instructions to build a model, responds to hand-signals of instructor while learning a procedure etc. Key Words: copies, traces, follows, reacts, reproduces and or responds. Examples: Uses a personal computer, repairs a leaking faucet, drives a car etc. Key Words: assembles, calibrates, constructs, dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes, grinds, heats, manipulates, measures, mends, mixes, organizes and or sketches. Examples: Maneuvers a car into a tight parallel parking spot. Operates a computer quickly and accurately. Displays competence while playing the piano. Key Words: NOTE: The Key Words are the same as in Mechanism, but will have 18

31 minimum of energy. This category adverbs or adjectives that indicate that the includes performing without performance is quicker, better, more hesitation, and automatic accurate, etc. performance. For example, players are often utter sounds of satisfaction or expletives as soon as they hit a tennis ball or throw a football, because they can tell by the feel of the act what the result will produce. Adaptation: Skills are well Examples: Responds effectively to developed and the individual can unexpected experiences. Modifies modify movement patterns to fit instruction to meet the needs of the learners. special requirements. Perform a task with a machine that it was not originally intended to do (machine is not damaged and there is no danger in performing the new task). Key Words: adapts, alters, changes, rearranges, reorganizes, revises and or varies. Origination: Creating new Examples: Constructs a new theory. movement patterns to fit a particular Develops a new and comprehensive training situation or specific problem. programming. Creates a new gymnastic Learning outcomes emphasize routine. creativity based upon highly Key Words: arranges, builds, combines, developed skills. composes, constructs, creates, designs, initiates, makes and or originates. Source: Bloom (1956) SUMMARY This lecture defined instructional goals as statements that express changes that ought to take place in a student without criteria of achievement, and/or degree of performance, while instructional objectives were defined as statements of performance to be demonstrated by each student in a class which are phrased in 19

32 measurable and observable terms. It has also stated the characteristics of instructional goals and objectives and identified three levels of instructional goals and objectives as cognitive, affective and psychomotor. The levels of instructional goals and objectives have been explained in detail and their categories well stipulated. The cognitive domain is categorized as knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The affective domain includes receiving, responding, valuing, organizing and internalizing values. The psychomotor domain involves perception, set, guided response, mechanism, complex overt response and adaptation. EXERCISES 1. Account for the differences between cognitive, affective and psychomotor instructional objectives. How would you distinguish cognitive objectives from the other two? 2. Assess the usefulness of Bloom s taxonomy as a framework for planning and development of curriculum at classroom level. How efficient is the framework in dealing with various types of educational goals and objectives? REFERENCES Bloom, B. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook 1, Cognitive Domain. New York: Longman. Harow, A. (1972). Taxonomy of the Psychomotor Domain. New York: David Mackay Company Inc. 20

33 LECTURE THREE CURRICULUM CONTENT 3.1 INTRODUCTION In this lecture we underscore the fact that schools and colleges select what to teach from a plethora of information, knowledge and or skills available in the environment. It is not possible to teach everything. The lecture, therefore, exposes you to the nature of content schools and colleges select, criteria employed, sequencing and scope in curriculum content. The lecture takes cognizance of content that considers the subject matter, processes and approaches, hence the need for deliberate plan to prioritize important aspects based on characteristics of learners on one hand, and aims, goals and objectives on the other hand. LECTURE OBJECTIVES By the end of this lecture you should be able to: (i) Define curriculum content; (ii) Identify the sources of curriculum content; (iii) Describe the criteria and important considerations for selection and organization of content. 3.2 MEANING OF CURRICULUM CONTENT Curriculum content refers to the topics and subject matter for inclusion in different courses. It is to what curriculum developers want the students to learn. Hayman (1973) refers to content as knowledge such as facts, explanations, principles, definitions, skills and processes like reading, writing, calculating and dancing, as well as values and beliefs about matters concerned with good and bad, right and wrong, beautiful and ugly. Generally; curriculum content entails knowledge, processes and values that students must learn. Good curriculum content is that which contributes to the achievement of aspired aim, goals and objectives. At this level, curriculum development process seeks to structure learning so that it is made appropriate to the age groups and systematically develops through the school years. Curriculum developers attempt to respond to questions such as: What major gaps are there which schooling must fill? What topics and sub-topics 21

34 should be extended to which age ranges? How should this or that sub-topic be extended from this to that age group and so on? In so doing, it is also important to ensure that the selected content is relevant to local concerns, practices, beliefs and attitudes, and makes direct connections to the learners daily lives. 3.3 SOURCES OF CURRICULUM CONTENT The determinants or foundations of curriculum are those basic forces that influence the content and organization; they include studies of the nature and value of knowledge (philosophy), studies of life and culture (sociology) and studies of learners and learning theory (psychology). Philosophical sources include ontology (what is real), epistemology (what is true) and axiology (what is good). Sociological sources provide the basis of content for curricular and thus the school curriculum reflects the nature of the society. Culturally induced bias is a major concern of curriculum developers. Contributions to the curriculum from the psychological point of view include formulation of educational objectives, understanding of the students characteristics, the learning processes, teaching methods and evaluation procedures. Specifically, various institutions and scholars identify the content of curriculum as originating from various sources. For example, the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training in Tanzania (URT, 1975) believe the following are some of important sources of curriculum content: Learners Society Subject specialists e.g., text books Philosophy of learning Psychology of learning Political ideology of the country Nature of the subject matter ACTIVITY 22

35 Discuss with your colleague and identify how and why each of these is an important source? Passigui (1999) notes the influences of essentialism and progressive schools in curriculum development processes. He argues that choice of content is influenced by the mind-set of a curriculum developer, for example essentialism, progressivism, etc. Specific curriculum content source depends on curriculum developer and the way he or she views reality and curriculum. Essentialism is grounded in a conservative philosophy holding that schools should not try to radically reshape society. Rather, schools should transmit traditional moral values and intellectual knowledge that students would need to become model citizens. Essentialist curriculum developers therefore, would focus on traditional virtues such as respect for authority, fidelity to duty, consideration for others and practicality. They would place importance on science and understanding of the world through scientific experimentation. To convey important knowledge about the world, essentialist educators emphasize instruction in natural science rather than non-scientific disciplines such as philosophy or comparative religion. Curriculum developers in the essentialist school of thought focus their attention on the subject matter prepared by the teachers for the students to learn. Curriculum constitutes of permanent studies emphasizing for example the rules of grammar, reading, rhetoric, logic and mathematics for basic education. Measurements of outcomes are standard tests based on mastery of subject matter. Progressivism, on the other hand, is a philosophical belief arguing that education must be based on the fact that humans are by nature social and learn best with others in real-life activities. Learning in isolation separates the mind from action. Certain abilities and skills can only be learned in groups, and social and intellectual interaction dissolves the artificial barriers of race and class by encouraging communication between various social groups. A progressive curriculum developer therefore focuses on students who should 23

36 constantly learn by experimenting and solving problems; reconstructing their experiences and creating new knowledge. As such, teachers should not only emphasize drill and practice, but also expose learners to activities that relate to the real life situations of students. Curriculum is viewed as something flexible based on areas of interest. It is learner-centered and individual achievement is the factor of motivation. Generally, curriculum content is organized as lists of subjects, syllabi, courses of study or specific contents for the learner to actualize. Content is the total learning experience of the learner and as such measurement of outcomes are devices taking into considerations the subject matter and personality values. ACTIVITY Study your school curriculum and state those aspects which follow essentialism and progressivism. 3.4 CRITERIA FOR SELECTING THE CONTENT The criteria for selection of the content of any given element of the curriculum should take in and explicitly address all the three domains, i.e. cognitive, affective and psychomotor. Although there are many conditions that a learner might encounter, the curriculum should focus on preparing students to recognize and understand common conditions while at the same time fostering the skills of self-directed learning which will enable the students and later, the expert, to analyze and address the unusual or novel situation. The following criteria are intended to serve as the benchmarks by which the content of the individual curricular elements should be assessed Applicability Any curricular elements should prepare students for practice. The content should be consistent with social realities. You can ask yourself to what extent is the content related to life outside the school. 24

37 3.4.2 Emphasis on Mechanism Curriculum content should focus on the learning process and reasoning as well as mastery of important information. Answers to why and how questions rather that what questions should dominate both teaching and examinations Learnability Curriculum content should be learnable and adaptable to pupils learning experience. Abilities of the learner must be taken into account at every stage of selection of the content. In planning the curriculum, stages of intellectual development must be taken into account because a student will learn when he is ready. So learnability is the adjustment of content and learning experiences to abilities of the learner Goal Validity Content proposals would be linked to explicit goals. Articulated goals (i.e., purpose of educational experience) will serve as touchstones for subsequent descriptions of the content and will help in ensuring that a coherent educational plan is in place. In most cases, extensive lists of individual objectives are not required; rather, goals should provide a guide and serve as a test for the appropriateness of proposed content Accountability and Reliability Content for any curricular element should be sufficiently explicitly and detailed that all students going through the course/ experience would come away with the same fundamental set of information and skills. EXERCISES By what extent does selection of curriculum content in your country observe these criteria? Give reasons for your answer! 3.5 SCOPE AND SEQUENCE IN ORGANIZATION OF THE CURRICULUM CONTENT Again, this is influenced by the philosophy that guides the developer s decisions about curriculum. For example, the basics of the essentialist 25

38 curriculum are mathematics, natural science, history, foreign language, and literature where elementary students receive instruction in skills such as writing, reading, and measurement. Programs are academically rigorous, for both slow and fast learners. There are common subjects for all students regardless of abilities and interests. However, how much is to be learned is adjusted according to student ability. This is contrasted from the progressive curriculum which strives to make schooling both interesting and useful. Ideally, in progressive curriculum, the home, workplace, and schoolhouse blend together to generate a continuous, fulfilling learning experience in life. Students solve problems in the classroom similar to those they will encounter outside the school. Therefore, curricular foci are on exposure of students to new scientific, technological, and social developments depending on experiences, interests, and abilities of students. Teachers are required to introduce lessons that combine several different subjects rather than confining themselves to one discrete discipline at a time. Lesson planning is in a way that arouses curiosity and pushes students towards higher order thinking and knowledge construction, exposing them to a more democratic curriculum that recognizes accomplishments of all citizens regardless of race, cultural background or gender. The organization of the curriculum content is very crucial in curriculum planning for effective learning and teaching. This has to do with arrangement and ordering of the content and learning experiences with the intention of making the experience to reinforce each other. Any curriculum content needs to be properly selected and organized. It can be organized by looking at various attributes including: (i) Chronological order: Selecting and sequencing content in order of how things happened, e.g. what happened first, and what followed. (ii) Causes and effect: The underlying principles resulting into knowledge. (iii) Structural logic: This refers to the use of normal procedure to organize content, e.g. wearing a vest before a shirt. 26

39 (iv) Problem centeredness: Basing on a problem addressed by the learning encounter. (v) Spiral: Continuous re-introduction of the main ideas of a topic as you proceed to the next topic or level. (vi) Psychological: Organizing content basing on the interest of the learners. These are just some of the ways in which content can be organized. As one organizes the content, he or she has to also determine the learning experiences, i.e. knowledge, skills, experiences, attitudes, etc that a curriculum will offer to students. This should consider among other things, the aims and objectives (or learning outcomes and competences) intended by the teaching/learning programme. Whether the guiding philosophy is essentialism, progressivism or any other, the curriculum content should be broken into subjects, each with a separate document or subject syllabi. At the phase of syllabi writing, it is important to ensure that: Aims and objectives for each subject are clearly stated. Suitable and relevant content is selected and presented in logical sequence, structure and scope. Suggested teaching learning activities and methods are selected and organized in a way that maximizes the achievement of aims and objectives. The learning activities should be selected on the basis that they are valid (validity criterion); relevant to life (relevance to life criterion); cater to the needs of different types of learners by providing different types of experiences (suitability criterion); they lead to the attainment of the same goal and subsequent experiences build on earlier ones (cumulation criterion); and may bring about multiple outcomes (multiple criterion). Materials required for implementing the programme are identified. Allocating time and providing guidelines for implementing the programmes. Defining required facilities, e.g. laboratories, workshops, field work, etc. 27

40 Identifying the personnel needed and defining their roles in the implementation, e.g. teachers, school managers and support staff. While organizing the learning experiences therefore we must consider their relationship over time (i.e. vertical organization) and space (i.e. horizontal organization). Vertical organization means the relationships of learning experiences provided by the same subject in different classes while horizontal relationship entails the relationship of learning experiences provided between the different subjects in the same class. 3.6 SCOPE OF THE CURRICULUM This refers to the range of knowledge, skills, attitudes or any other experiences that a given curriculum should cover. During curriculum development, the scope is determined on the basis of these and other considerations: (i) Prioritization: Selecting what is basically needed in specific circumstances. It should therefore not be overcrowded. (ii) Balance: Ensuring that the content is properly balanced in terms of time and resources available. (iii) Completeness: Ensuring that it properly caters for all the three domains, i.e. psychomotor (hand skills), cognitive (knowledge) and affective (attitudes/values). (iv) Sequence: Ensuring that it is properly sequenced, i.e. simple to complex, known to unknown and spiraled. (v) Comprehensiveness: It includes all the necessary details needed by specific learners, as well as considering specific characteristics of intended learners, e.g. age, ability, etc. SUMMARY In this lecture we defined curriculum content as the topics and subject matter to be included in different courses. We also identified sources of curriculum content as being philosophy, sociology and psychology. However, other scholars discuss various important curriculum sources namely: learners, society, 28

41 subject specialists, philosophy of learning, psychology of learning and political ideology of the country, and nature of the subject matter. In selecting the content, several criteria have to be considered, these are applicability, emphasis on mechanism, learnerability, goal validity, accountability and reliability. Scope and sequence are also crucial in organization of curriculum content. Curriculum organization looks at various attributes such as chronological order, cause and effect, structural logic, problem cent redness, spiral and psychological. The scope of curriculum considers prioritization, balance, completeness, sequence and comprehensiveness. EXERCISES 1. Define curriculum content. 2. Identify and discuss general principles for selecting curriculum content. REFERENCES Saylor, J. and Alexander, W. M. (1974). Planning Curriculum for Schools. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc. Tyler, R. (1949). Basic Principles of Curriculum Instruction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 29

42 LECTURE FOUR CURRICULUM DESIGN 4.1 INTRODUCTION This lecture introduces you to the designs of curriculum. Here, curriculum design refers to organization of the components of curriculum (aims, goals, objectives, content, learning activities and evaluation) into a coherent pattern. The arrangement of these elements is done in order to facilitate instruction at the classroom setting. Curriculum design is a complex process requiring a high intellectual ability, conceptual understanding and technical content orientation to do it. As we have seen in other related activities, it is done depending on the philosophy guiding development of a given curriculum. In most cases, curriculum design is done by an individual or a team of people following no clear design, methodology, often under extreme pressure of time and with no process documentation on the way. LECTURE OBJECTIVES By the end of this lecture, you should be able to: (i) Describe the concept curriculum design, curriculum frameworks and the ways of designing a school curriculum; (ii) Identify and discuss the types of curriculum design; (iii) Describe the principles of curriculum design. 4.2 WHAT IS CURRICULUM DESIGN? Curriculum design refers to organization of various elements during the process of developing a curriculum. It takes into account the expected learning outcomes, associated learning and teaching tasks, assessment and evaluation. From students perspective, this entails the sets of values and beliefs about what students should learn; in this case the axis about which learning and teaching revolve. In this perspective, for example; curricula should be inclusive and student centered, taking into account the needs of a diverse student population. Macquarie University (2010) views such considerations as 30

43 occurring in a process which efficiently analyzes the situation that a given curriculum is designed to address, i.e. background, current abilities and experiences; the intents, i.e. aims, goals and intended outcomes; contents, i.e. appropriate scope and sequence, practices in relation to goals and objectives; teaching and learning, i.e. variety of methods, techniques and strategies; assessment, i.e. formative and summative procedures for appraising the development of learning; organization, i.e. blocks, timetables and or units; and evaluation, i.e. the mechanisms for acquiring feedback from and about students performances. According to UNESCO (2010) curriculum frameworks are one way of expressing an intended curriculum. They further posit that education systems across the world are moving away from centralized models of curriculum decision-making towards more democratic, decentralized models. As a result, decision-makers are considering ways of organizing the curriculum in ways other than the traditional subject approach in which all students learn the same content at the same time. Increasingly curriculum is being structured in ways which are appropriate to the needs and circumstances of the regions, and which address more effectively the needs of students. Curriculum frameworks therefore are technical tools which establish parameters for the development of other curriculum documents such as subject syllabuses. They are also agreed social document which define and express the national priorities for education, and aspirations for the future of the nation. Here, the purpose of a curriculum framework is to establish the parameters within which curriculum should be developed. It expresses the state s aims of education, and defines minimum standards for content and assessment, as well as teacher qualifications, educational resources and learning materials, management, and evaluation. Such a framework is often approved by a competent authority, for example Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE) in Tanzania, as a first step in the curriculum development process. The framework then provides guidelines for the developers of more specific learning area syllabuses. 31

44 Figure 4.1: Curriculum Development Cycle Adopted from: Macquarie University (2010) Design that so focuses on students as the axis on which other considerations must revolve is referred to as student-centered. However, curriculum developers may opt to center their processes on other elements of curriculum depending on guiding philosophies, aims, goals and or objectives being pursued. Therefore, this suggests that there are a number of designs or frameworks for curriculum development depending on outcomes to be achieved. In each case, a good design takes into account the different dimensions in determination and organization of its content: 32

45 The intended or specified curriculum has a focus on the aims and content of what is to be taught that is, the curriculum which is planned and expressed through curriculum frameworks and other formal documents and which may have the authority of law. The implemented or enacted curriculum relates to what is actually put in place for students in schools which may represent local interpretations of what is required in formal curriculum documents. Here, curriculum and instruction are seen as being closely interrelated. The experienced curriculum refers to the formal learning that is experienced by students. This is more concerned with the learners, what knowledge and perspectives they bring; their ability to learn and their interaction with the curriculum. The hidden curriculum refers to student experiences of school beyond the formal structure of the curriculum, and in particular the messages communicated by the school or education system concerning values, beliefs, behaviours and attitudes. The messages contained in the hidden curriculum may complement the intended and implemented curricula or they may undermine them. The null curriculum refers to all those areas and dimensions of human experience which the curriculum does not specify and which are not addressed through teaching. These and other proportions of content, aims, goals and objectives are usually organized centering on students, teachers, subjects and or a given problem. Curriculum design is defined by Taba (1962) as a statement which identifies the elements of curriculum, states what their relationships are, and indicates the principles of organization for the administrative condition under which it is to operate. In order to do that, it needs to be supported by explicit curriculum theory which establishes the source to consider and principles to apply. In this expression, the key word appears to be organization, similar to what the term 33

46 generically implies i.e. an organic arrangement or structure of elements, parts or details. 4.3 COMMON ELEMENTS OF A CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK (i) Introduction: This is a contextual scan reflecting current context upon which curriculum is about to be designed. It describes the social and economic environment in which teaching and learning is intended to occur. (ii) Educational Policy Statements: This describes the Government s goals for education, such as universal primary and or adult education, the development of skills needed for economic prosperity and the creation of a stable and tolerant society. (iii) Statement of Broad Learning: This describes what students should know and be able to do when they complete their school education. (iv) Objectives and Outcomes: These are standards for each level or cycle; expressed in a range of domains including knowledge, understanding, skills and competencies, values and attitudes. (v) Structure of the Education System: This describes the school system within which the curriculum framework is to be applied. It should specify number of years of schooling, including compulsory schooling; stages (or cycles) of schooling and their durations; and number of weeks in the school years, hours or teaching periods in the school week. (vi) Structure of curriculum content: This describes the organization of content within the framework and learning areas and subjects, as well as the extent to which schools and students can make choices. It might describe the pattern of subjects or learning areas to be studied in each stage or cycle (such as core, elective and optional subjects); brief description of each subject or learning area outlining the rationale for its inclusion in the curriculum and the contribution it makes to the achievement of the learning outcomes; and the number of hours to be assigned to each subject or learning area in each stage or cycle. 34

47 (vii) Standards of resources required: This describes standards as they apply to implementation, teacher qualifications, teaching load (number of classes per week), student number per class in each subject; and materials (e.g. textbooks, computers etc) as well as other equipment and facilities (e.g. classrooms, furniture, fittings). (viii) Teaching methodology: This describes the range of teaching approaches that might be employed in the implementation of the framework. (ix) Student Assessment Procedures: This describes the importance of assessing the extent to which students achieve the outcomes established for each subject, and recommends or prescribes types of assessment strategies (such as written, oral, performance and practical skills demonstration) 4.4 TYPES OF CURRICULUM DESIGNS Since designs purport to reflect the models of instructional delivery chosen and used, their categorization may follow a variety of orientations. Some indicate curriculum designs as categorized according to the common psychological classifications of the four families of learning theories, i.e. Social, Information Processing, Personalist, and Behavioral. Some focus on common philosophical orientations like Idealism, Realism, Perennialism, Essentialism, Experimentalism, Existentialism, Constructivism and Reconstructivism to categorize the designs. Perrenialism believe in knowledge. To them, knowledge disciplines the mind. These theorists believe that the main purpose of education is to cultivate mind and develop ability to reason, develop intellectual powers and pursue truth. They emphasize on cognitive abilities only and ignore other domains such as affective and psychomotor. Thus they advocate for subject centred curriculum design. The progressivists advocate for child centred curriculum. They believe that a child s present and past experiences contain the essential elements of the initial and final terms of her reality. Reconstructvism sees 35

48 education as a powerful instrument for effecting planned and social change in a given society. They see a school as having the capacity to influence social and cultural change. Others categorize curriculum designs following administrative orientations, i.e. centralized versus decentralized designs. Centralized designs are used when the curricula decisions are retained by the central national offices as opposed to decentralized designs which allow local authorities or individual states to draft their own curricula. But to Longstreet and Shane (1993) the division is along child-centered, society-centered, knowledge-centered orientations or a combination of them. In our case, we will adopt an orientation that is more or less similar to Longstreet and Shane s (1993), which is taking its aspects from both psychology and philosophy orientations viewing curriculum as either leaner-centered, subject-centered (knowledge), society-centered or a combination of two or more of these. EXERCISES There are several orientations for categorization of curriculum designs. What do you think are important reasons for adopting eclectic orientation to the understanding of curriculum designs? 4.5 CONTENT-BASED CURRICULUM A content-based curriculum is typically focused on traditional subject disciplines. It is based on an individualistic conception of learning, which encourages competition among students. It requires more specialized teachers, who are more knowledgeable on specific disciplines and more concerned about their career advancement in academic skills. It will specify the topics or themes of the subject area or discipline and will include aims and objectives for the area. This type of curriculum is often highly directive, detailed and rigid in both structure and time allocation. Usually teaching emphasizes the development of lower level cognitive skills, giving priority to the memorization 36

49 and the accurate reproduction of factual information, as it is often required by standardized exams applied at a national level. It may be argued that this approach privileges theoretical approaches and encourages an over emphasis on authority, conformity and uniformity. Regarding higher education, it points to a convergence model supported on merit and performance. Centering activities on content requires designers to avoid the possibility that activities will not fit with a given learner or a set of learners. Experts tend to utilize schemas and categorizations (taxonomies) which have little apparent relationship to the experiences of the uninitiated. Therefore, curriculum designers concentrate on the developmental structure of the subject, i.e. the sequence in which the subject-matter is most easily and naturally learned. As such, the design is also referred to as subject-centred. Designers will look at the facts, concepts, and skills related to, or encompassed by the subject area, and plan activities that may lead students from prior experiences to master the elements of the subject area. In this case, the center of the curriculum is the conceptual structures and processes that define the discipline and inform the work of people within the discipline. Students engage in activities that imitate the activities of scholars in the field. For example, history or sociology students may write research papers that utilize primary source materials; chemistry students will perform key experiments from the history of chemistry; or literature students will write, edit, and perform their own plays. The problem with discipline-centered curriculums is that they are likely to ignore the knowledge and skills that lie between and among the various disciplines but which may be central in the lives or future of the students. For example, students need to learn the relationship between science, technology, and culture; these relationships are usually ignored by the sciences themselves. One way around this problem is to center activities not on a given discipline but on a broad field including several disciplines. Obvious examples are 37

50 social studies, general science, and integrated mathematics, which merge several separate fields into interdisciplinary subject area. These broad fields, or interdisciplinary subject areas, allow for more correlation, integration, and holism than strict disciplinary studies. Broad fields can also be defined around conceptual clusters, such as Science, Technology, and Society, Darwinism, The Renaissance, Ancient Greece, or Political Economy, or overarching themes, such as Colonialism or Rituals. The various concepts, skills, and attitudes related to these clusters of concepts can be mapped utilizing a concept map or web which can then serve as the template for the development of a web site. The inter-relationships among the subject areas and topics involved in the broad field or in the specific implications of an overarching theme can be the basis for activities in which students compare and contrast related areas, developing interdisciplinary understandings and metacognitions which can serve to organize the complexity of real-world knowledge. The postulates of this model: Are founded on devolution and macroplaneacion. Boost pragmatic research that impacts on production and profitable. Require a college divided into several institutions, specialized for particular and specific functions for easy management. Funding for research is selective and based on criteria of quality, reasonableness and competitiveness. The employment promotion and selection of teachers and students is based on merit. Research and development occur in an institutional climate of academic freedom and autonomy. Teachers and students are full time. It is based more on competitive policy leadership. The distribution of resources is contingent upon the quality of performance. 38

51 4.6 PROBLEM CENTERED DESIGN This is a curriculum design which addresses the problems perceived in life realities. In UNESCO s (2010) conception of designs it derives to what is referred to as competency-based curriculum. Competency-based curriculum seeks to develop specific sets of competencies focused on specific skill outcomes. It tends to avoid a subject-based approach and emphasizes the crossconnections between learning areas. Here, a competency is defined as the ability to mobilize an integrated resource set (acquired knowledge, skills, capacities, behaviours, etc.) to achieve a goal such as completing a complex task or solving a problem. Likewise, competency is understood only in relation to its context and generally corresponds to specific problems linked to a subject. As such, a problem-centered curriculum is meant for real-life situations, social functions and or social reconstruction. It is usually planned prior to enrolled students but can later be adjusted to fit the needs of wider participants. Problems can be interdisciplinary, life situations or social. Learners are engaged in analysis of severe problems facing mankind; therefore seek to acquire certain competencies for furthering the good of society. Competency-based education aims to develop a set competencies specified in the curriculum and is focused on specific skill outcomes. The emphasis is on the development and demonstration of knowledge, skills, capacities, behaviours and so on, required for the successful completion of particular tasks or activities. Competency tests are administered to determine whether a student has acquired competency. These tests are often standard across a whole school system and are administered at the end of specified stages of schooling. The focus may be only on the attainment of minimum survival skills within learning areas. Competency based education is often closely associated with vocational education and job related training. 39

52 Competency based curriculum is often contrasted with objectives-based curriculum which addresses change of specified objectives in the student s observable behaviour. Objectives describe what the teacher or student is to do, what subject matter is to be covered, or the expected learning outcome. Critics have argued that objectives-based curriculum was burdensome and mechanistic, ignoring differences between learners. Such curriculum may seem vague if the list of objectives is too short or burdensome, and unhelpful if the list is too long. Some argue that it may be well suited to some subject areas like science or mathematics but that in other areas where autonomous personal judgments of value or taste are called for, objectives are of limited use. 4.7 LEARNER-CENTRED DESIGN This emphasizes the students as the center of focus in any program, and around them, and for them, should be established the curricula. Traditionally, this type of design was mostly used at the elementary level but it is gradually gaining popularity to attract foci of other levels of education and training as well. A curriculum centering on the learner can also be outcome-based, integrated or standard-based curriculum. It is outcome-based if it specifies the outcomes that students are expected to achieve in specific subjects or learning areas by the end of specific stage of schooling. The focus is more on the development of skills or understandings than covering the required content. It is integrated curriculum if it seeks to enable students apply different skills in an operational way; acknowledging the social dimension of learning and knowledge as not merely school-based activities. Here, skills and knowledge are developed in more than one area of study, defining the meaningful connections between different aspects. It is standard-based if student performance is measured against the defined standard rather than performance of other students. Standard-based curriculum militate the use of criterion referenced assessments. ACTIVITY 40

53 Study the three designs and identify their strengths and weaknesses. As an actor in curriculum development; how would the knowledge of one design be utilized to maximize the effectiveness of another design? 4.8 PRINCIPLES FOR CURRICULUM DESIGN (i) The curriculum must reflect the integrity and character of subject as a discipline: Every subject taught in school is a discipline in its own right. That discipline, moreover, is characterized by a combination of theory, practice, knowledge and skills. Any curriculum should therefore ensure that practice is guided by both theory and spirit of professionalism. (ii) The curriculum must respond to rapid knowledge and technical change and encourages students to do the same: Most subjects taught in school are vibrant and fast-changing discipline. Subject specialists must update their curricula on a regular basis. Equally important, the curriculum must teach students to respond to the change as well. (iii) Curriculum design must be guided by the outcomes you hope to achieve: Throughout the process of defining curriculum, it is essential to consider the goals of the programme and specific capabilities to be attained by students at the end. (iv) The curriculum as a whole should maintain a consistent philosophy that promotes innovation, creativity and professionalism: Students respond best when they understand what is expected of them. It is unfair to students to encourage particular modes of behavior in later courses. Throughout the entire curriculum, students should be encouraged to use their initiative and imagination to go beyond the minimal requirements. At the same time, students must be encouraged from the very beginning to maintain a professional and responsible attitude toward their work. (v) Ensure that the curriculum is accessible to a wide range of students: All too often, school programmes attract a homogenous population of students that includes relatively few women and students of colour. Although many of the factors that lead to this imbalance lie outside the school system itself, every institution should seek to ensure greater diversity, both by eliminating bias in 41

54 the curriculum and by actively encouraging a broader group of students to take part. (vi) The curriculum must provide students with a capstone that gives them a chance to apply their skills and knowledge to solve a challenging problem: The combination of subjects should include a project that requires students to use a range of practices and techniques in solving a substantial problem. (vii) The focus is more on the development of skills or understandings than covering required content. SUMMARY This lecture shows that curriculum design is about organization or patterning of various elements of curriculum into a whole. It is geared to achievement of aims, goals and objectives. Organization takes cognizance of the different dimensions of curriculum which should as much as possible mirror in the models of instructional delivery chosen and used. Categorization of designs is influenced by the developers orientations ranging between psychology, philosophy and mixture of these or more. The subject-studentproblem categorization is utilized to show how a chosen type of design would utilize various elements of curriculum to achieve set goals and objectives while focusing on the subject, learner or the problem as its centre. Whether it is a subject, learner or problem centered design; organization of curriculum elements must follow basic principles or less common principles. EXERCISES In a small team of about three, design an outline appropriate for your country or area, presenting the main components on a flip 42

55 chart. In the outline, indicate the approximate weight of each component in percentage. REFERENCES Longstreet, W. S. and Shane, H. G. (1993). Curriculum for a new millennium. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Macquarie University (2010). Curriculum Design on Taba, H. (1962). Curriculum Development: Theory and Practice. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc. 43

56 LECTURE FIVE IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION OF CURRICULUM 5.1 INTRODUCTION This lecture introduces you to strategies for effective implementation and evaluation of the curriculum. It answers the question how can we ensure that our curriculum is implemented and brings about appropriate results? Through this lesson you will be able to anticipate possible obstacles to curriculum implementation and clearly plan how those can be dealt with. The lesson will also expose you to the ways for weighing the relative merits of different activities involved in curriculum implementation. LECTURE OBJECTIVES By the end of this lecture, you should be able to: (i) State the meaning of curriculum implementation and evaluation (ii) Identify necessary resources and the factors influencing curriculum implementation (iii) iii. Distinguish various types of evaluation. 5.2 CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION Curriculum implementation entails putting into practice the officially prescribed courses of study, syllabi and subjects. The process involves helping the learner acquire knowledge, skills or any other experiences included in the curriculum. It is important to note that curriculum implementation cannot take place without the learner. The learner is central in curriculum implementation. Implementation takes place as the learner acquires the planned or intended experiences, knowledge, skills, ideas and attitudes; aiming to enable him/her to function effectively in a society (University of Zimbabwe, 1995). Curriculum implementation, therefore, refers to how the planned or officially designed 44

57 course of study is translated into syllabi schemes of work and lessons to be delivered to students. Curriculum implementation is a critical phase in curriculum cycle where selected techniques and strategies are put into use through selected tools such as the syllabi and schemes of work, lesson plans and notes, teaching-learning materials, text books and other readings and general school environment. Teacher and the learners are major participants in curriculum implementation. It is important to note that there is no clear dividing line between curriculum development and implementation. Once the curriculum has been developed, it also has to be tested and revised as necessary before it is ready for implementation. It is important that those involved with implementing the course (usually teachers, school inspectors and examiners) as well as students, interpret the curriculum correctly, because the written word is not always interpreted in the same way by different people. Idealy, the processes of development and implementation should be seamless and involve many of the same teachers and other staff as well as student representatives. This will help to ensure ownership of the new course and more effective implementation Pre-Testing and Piloting Before starting to fully implement the curriculum it is preferable to pre test or pilot some or the whole of the curriculum. The main objective of pre testing and piloting is to try out the draft curriculum in a small number of training situations and in the context in which the curriculum will be used. This helps to highlight to the curriculum developers whether the curriculum is understandable and relevant to the users and whether it works in practice. Based on these findings, the curriculum can be modified as appropriate to meet the needs of the potential students. Sometimes there is the opportunity to field test the developed course to a larger number of users under real field conditions. Pre testing and piloting can help to create the most appropriate 45

58 course as often the paper curriculum does not work as expected in practice because of unforeseen situations or responses by students or teachers. For example, if introducing new teaching or learning methods or new topics into a curricula, it is easy to underestimate the amount of preparation and sometimes additional training which might be required of teachers. Tools and mechanisms must be developed to ensure a systematic evaluation of the testing or piloting process. Figure 5.1: Curriculum Monitoring and Evaluation Cycle Adopted from: knowhownonprofit (2012) Monitoring and Evaluating the Curriculum Monitoring can be defined as a continuous or periodic check and overseeing by those responsible for the course at every level. It should focus attention on processes and performance with the objective of drawing attention to particular features that may require corrective action. It includes putting activities in place to ensure that input deliveries, work plans, expected output and other actions are proceeding according to plans. Monitoring should enable curriculum planners to detect serious setbacks or bottlenecks of the implementation 46

59 process that may cause the programme not to achieve expected learning outcomes. (i) Planning Planning is the first stage in the monitoring and evaluation cycle. Curriculum developers should think about: Why do they want evaluate and for whom? What will they monitor and evaluate? How will they do it? Who will do it and do they have the right skills? When will they do it? What resources will they need, including outside support and what will they do with the information they get? Curriculum developers themselves, and their stakeholders, will usually want to find out how the project is meeting its planned aims and objectives. These need to be clearly stated in the early stages of planning. (ii) Monitoring Monitoring involves inputs: such as students, resources and staff, outputs, outcomes and impacts. Monitoring information may be reported on a quarterly or even a monthly basis. (iii) Evaluation Evaluation involves taking stock and making judgments. It is likely to be carried out less frequently. Evaluation often uses monitoring information that has been produced over a period of time. However, this is not always available, and evaluation may use one-off methods of enquiry. Often the best combination is bringing together regular monitoring data with additional information gathered against specific key questions. An organisation should think about evaluation from the start, so that monitoring can be carried out with evaluation in mind. (iv) Using the findings In this final stage, organizations: make use of the findings to feed back into, and guide, the management of the organisation; make use of the findings to demonstrate progress and results; 47

60 tell others about what they have learnt; Influence policy change. 5.3 RESOURCES FOR CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION Teachers Teachers and students involved in curriculum organization each have different roles and responsibilities. Teachers want to enjoy teaching and watching their students develop interests and skills in their interest area. Teachers also want to discover the effective practices of their teaching profession. The teacher's responsibilities are to implement the curriculum in order to meet students needs. The teacher creates lesson plans and syllabi within the framework of the given curriculum. As Whitaker (1979) asserts, in the University of Zimbabwe (1995) module, the teachers view their role in curriculum implementation as an autonomous one. They select and decide what to teach from the prescribed syllabus or curriculum. Since implementation takes place through the interaction of the learner and the planned learning opportunities, the role and influence of the teacher in the process is indisputable (University of Zimbabwe, 1995). You could be thinking, I understand that teachers are pivotal in the curriculum implementation process, but what is their role in the curriculum planning process? If the teacher is to be able to translate curriculum intentions into reality, it is imperative that she/he understands the curriculum document or syllabus well in order to implement it effectively (University of Zimbabwe, 1995). If the curriculum is what teachers and students create together, as Wolfson (1997) states in Curriculum Implementations (University of Zimbabwe, 1995), teachers must play a more significant role in designing the curriculum. Teachers must be involved in curriculum planning and development so that they can implement and modify the curriculum for the benefit of their learners. 48

61 5.3.2 Learners Learners are also a critical element in curriculum implementation. While these are the key curriculum implementers, their task is to interpret the objectives and content in the curriculum plan and manage the learning situations through which intention is transformed into actual practice (Hawes, 1979). More often they are required to use their own sovereignty and individual choices on what each child is to experience at school and take away from school. According to Whitakers (1979) teachers are involved with prescriptions (what they should do), expectations (what they should take into account) and predilections (what they would like to do). It is therefore important to include teachers in curriculum development process so that they will be able to implement it effectively. The learner factor influences teachers in their selection of learning experiences, hence the need to consider the diverse characteristics of learners in curriculum implementation (University of Zimbabwe, 1995). For example, home background and learner ability can determine what is actually achieved in the classroom Instructional Resources/Materials and Learning Facilities From your experience, you are aware that no meaningful teaching and learning takes place without adequate resource materials. This applies to curriculum implementation as well. For the officially designed curriculum to be fully implemented as per plan, the government or Ministry of Education should supply schools with adequate resource materials such as textbooks, teaching aids and stationery in order to enable teachers and learners to play their role satisfactorily in the curriculum implementation process. In Curriculum Implementation (University of Zimbabwe, 1995), it is suggested that the central government must also provide physical facilities such as classrooms, laboratories, workshops, libraries and sports fields in order to create an environment in which implementation can take place. The availability and quality of resource materials and the availability of appropriate facilities have a great influence on curriculum implementation. 49

62 5.3.4 Interest Groups Can you identify interest groups in your country that could influence the implementation of curricula? A number of these groups exist in almost all Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. These include parents, parents and teachers associations, religious organizations, local authorities, companies and private school proprietors. These groups can influence implementation in the following ways: Provide schools with financial resources to purchase required materials. Demand the inclusion of certain subjects in the curriculum. Influence learners to reject courses they consider detrimental to the interests of the group. It is therefore important to involve these groups at the curriculum planning stage Culture and Ideology Cultural and ideological differences within a society or country can also influence curriculum implementation. Some communities may resist a domineering culture or government ideology and hence affect the implementation of the centrally planned curriculum Instructional Supervision Curriculum implementation cannot be achieved unless it has been made possible through the supervisory function of the school head. The head does this through: deploying staff, allocating time to subjects taught at the school, providing teaching and learning materials, and creating an atmosphere conducive to effective teaching and learning. The head teachers guide curriculum implementation through ensuring that schemes of work, lesson plans and records of students marks are prepared 50

63 regularly. Generally, the head teacher maintains a school tone and culture that create the climate of social responsibility. Effective curriculum implementation does not take place in a school where the head is incapable of executing supervisory functions Assessment Assessment in the form of examinations influences curriculum implementation tremendously. Due to the great value given to public examination certificates by communities and schools, teachers have tended to concentrate on subjects that promote academic excellence and little else. This action by the teacher obviously can affect the achievement of the broad goals and objectives of the curriculum The School Environment One other factor that influences curriculum implementation concerns the particular circumstances of each school. Schools located in rich socioeconomic environments and those that have adequate human and material resources can implement the curriculum to an extent that would be difficult or impossible for schools in poor economic environments. ACTIVITY Some of the factors that may influence curriculum implementation therefore are: Teacher s competence Learners attitude to learning and school Adequacy of instructional resources Support from interest groups The school environment Political and socio-economic conditions Adequacy of instructional supervision 51

64 Boards of Examiners Study the factors and state how each factor may promote or hinder the process. 5.4 CURRICULUM EVALUATION Most authors argue that curriculum evaluation refers to the processes used to weigh the relative merits of those educational alternatives which at any given time are deemed to fall within the domain of curriculum practice. In this process, evaluation is seen simply as measuring of teaching in terms of pupils learning. Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE)(2006) refers to evaluation as placing a value on a specific set of acts or objects. Urebvu (1985) views it as the process of ascertaining the decisions to be made, selecting related information, collecting and analyzing information for decision makers selection of best among alternatives. McKimm (2007) looks at evaluation in the context of teaching and learning; as a system of feedback providing information to planners, teachers, students, parents and decision-makers. It is a process involving ongoing activities aimed at gathering timely information about the quality of a programme. Therefore, it is a process of judging, putting a value or assessing the worth of the learning experiences. But, why do we need to evaluate our education courses and or programmes? To identify successes and failures of the curriculum with a view to correcting deficiencies. To measure if stated objectives have been or are being achieved. To assess if the curriculum is meeting the needs of learners, community, etc. To measure the cost effectiveness of the curriculum. Some questions to be asked when evaluating a course or programme (i) Whether the learning objectives are realistic and relevant, (ii) Whether the different parts of the course relate to each other meaningfully in terms of sequence and organization, (iii) Whether the subject matter and content are relevant, accurate and up to date, 52

65 (iv) Whether the learners entry requirements are well defined and at the right level, (v) Whether the materials and delivery are pitched at the right level for the learners at different points in the course, (vi) Whether the balance of teaching and learning methods is appropriate and whether there is enough time to ensure learning, (vii) Whether teachers have the knowledge and skills required to deliver the curriculum, (viii) Whether the learning resources that have been identified are adequate, appropriate and available Functions of Curriculum Evaluation at Different Levels of Implementation The functions of evaluation may be viewed differently at national and institutional levels as follows: (i) At National Level To find out the extent to which the central goals and objectives are being achieved, To determine whether the curriculum is functioning and using the best materials and the best methods, To determine whether the products of our schools are successful in higher education and in jobs, To determine whether student can meet challenges in daily life and contribute to our society To determine whether the education programme is cost effective, and the people are getting the most of it. (ii) At Institutional Level Is used as a basis for school marks or grades by teachers which are obtained through formal examinations and regular assignments 53

66 As means of informing parents on the performance of their children For promotion to a higher class For pupils motivation To assess the effectiveness of the teaching strategies For employment purposes Types of Curriculum Evaluation There are four types of curriculum evaluation namely: (i) Placement Evaluation It is used to assess the student s knowledge level, in order to place her/him in particular level of learning experiences. Do the pupils possess the knowledge and skills needed to begin the planned instruction? To what extent has the pupil already mastered the objectives of the planned instruction? (ii) Formative Evaluation Formative evaluation focuses on the process. For example, the teacher or evaluator may be collecting continuous feedback from participants in a programme in order to revise the programme as needed. Therefore, formative evaluation is a continuous process. (iii) Diagnostic Evaluation This kind of evaluation deals with judging the worthiness of the curriculum before the programme activities begin. It also diagnoses learning difficulties during the instruction. It involves the collection of appropriate data for two purposes: to place students prior to the commencement of the programme and to determine the causes of deficiencies in student learning during the implementation of the curriculum. (iv) Summative Evaluation 54

67 Summative evaluation is the method of judging the worth of the programme at the end of programme implementation. Its major interest is on the outcome of the particular programme Phases of Curriculum Evaluation There are about four phases of curriculum evaluation. Here, evaluation as a cyclic process involves preparation, assessment, evaluation and reflection phases. (i) Preparation Phase Decisions are made to identify what is to be evaluated, the type of evaluation (formative, summative or diagnostic) to be used, the criteria against which student learning outcomes will be judged, and the most appropriate assessment techniques with which to gather information on student progress. The teacher s decisions during this phase form the basis for the remaining phases. (ii) Assessment Phase The teacher identifies information-gathering techniques, constructs or selects instruments, administers them to the students and collects the information on student learning progress. During this phase the teacher continues to make decisions. The identification and elimination of bias (such as gender and cultural) from the assessment techniques and instruments and the determination of where, when and how assessments will be conducted are examples of important elements for the teacher. (iii) Evaluation (Judgment) Phase In this phase, the teacher is required to interpret the information and make judgment about students progress. Based on the judgment (or evaluation), the teacher thereafter makes decisions about students learning programmes and reports on progress to students, parents, and appropriate authorities. (iv) Reflection Phase 55

68 The teacher considers the extent to which the previous phases in the evaluation process have been successful. Specifically the teacher evaluates the utility and appropriateness of the assessment techniques used. Such reflection assists the teacher in making decisions concerning improvements or modifications to subsequent teaching and evaluation. SUMMARY This lecture has introduced the strategies for effective implementation and evaluation of curriculum. It also discussed curriculum implementation as putting into practice the officially prescribed courses, syllabi and subjects. The learner is most important in implementing the curriculum to interpret the objectives and content in the curriculum plan and manage the learning situations curriculum implementation involves 2 stages namely pre-testing and piloting where the draft is tried out in a number of institutions; and the monitoring and evaluating stage which helps curriculum planners to discover constraints that may hinder the programme from achieving its expected learning outcomes. The lecture also identified various resources for curriculum implementation as teachers, learners, instructional resources/materials and learning facilities, interest groups, culture and ideology, instructional supervision, assessment and school environment. Also, the lecture discussed something on curriculum evaluation. Curriculum evaluation is defined as the process which involves ongoing activities aimed at gathering timely information about the quality of the programme. The types of curriculum evaluation were named as placement, formative, diagnostic and summative evaluation. The phases of curriculum evaluation were also discussed. 56

69 EXERCISES 1. Outline the differences between assessment and evaluation. 2. With evidence discuss how assessment and evaluation is conducted in your country. 3. Curriculum assessment and evaluation is of less value and wastage of time to be included in teacher education; it should be discouraged right away. Discuss. REFERENCES Knowhownonprofit (2012). McKimm, J. (2007). Curriculum Design and Development, Unpublished Lecture Notes. School of Medicine Imperial College Centre for Education. Urebvu, A. O. (1985). Curriculum Studies. Ikeja: Longman University of Zimbabwe (1995). Curriculum Implementation, Change and Innovation. (Module EA3AD 303). Harare: Centre for Distance Education, University of Zimbabwe. 57

70 LECTURE SIX CURRICULUM CHANGE AND INNOVATION 6.1 INTRODUCTION The previous lecture discussed evaluation and how it is applied to determine the extent to which curriculum objectives are being realized. This lecture will examine how curriculum can be changed and or improved. The processes for change and improvement of curriculum are referred to as curriculum change and curriculum innovation. LECTURE OBJECTIVES After completing this lecture you should be able to: (i) Define curriculum change and curriculum innovation. (ii) Identify political and ideological influences on curriculum innovation (iii) Identify and discuss the models that explain how changes take place (iv) Explain factors that influence the diffusion and dissemination of change and innovation in the curriculum. 6.2 DEFINING CURRICULUM CHANGE AND INNOVATION Curriculum Change Hoyle (University of Zimbabwe, 1995) defines change as embracing the concepts of innovation, development, renewal and improvement of a curriculum. Curriculum change is dictated by the changes in the economic, social and technological aspects of a society. Change has magnitude and direction and occurs within a definite time frame. 58

71 6.2.2 Curriculum Innovation Curriculum innovation refers to ideas or practices that are new and different from those existing in formal prescribed curriculum. It is defined as activating forces within the system to alter some practices and introduce new ones. Hoyle (1972) defines curriculum change as a generic term embracing a whole family of concepts (i.e. innovation, development and renewal) which are used in relation to curriculum. He rightly argues that the curriculum is continually changing to suit the needs of changing society and changing knowledge and learners. As such, innovation is also defined as making and initiating adjustment to improve an education activity. It is an intentional and deliberate process to bring out desired effects and change. It is any improvement that is deliberate, measurable, enduring and unlikely to occur frequently. In curriculum innovation, human and material resources are created, selected, organized and utilized to result in higher achievement of curriculum goals and objectives. According to Bishop (1986), an innovation process involves four major factors. These are the change agent, change itself, user of change and time. The change agent refers to innovator, person or group of individuals who decide upon and initiate the innovation. Change in this context is the innovation, e.g. an integrated approach to learning-teaching or a comprehensive system of education initiated to alter some practices and introduce new ones. The user refers to the person or group at which an innovation is directed or targeted. Time is about the period in which the innovation has to take place. Briefly, the four factors answer four simple questions about who (the change agent), what (the innovation), to whom (the user) and when (time). ACTIVITY Reflect on the meanings of change and innovation! What can you now say are the differences and similarities between the two concepts? 59

72 6.3 CURRICULUM CHANGE AND CURRICULUM INNOVATION COMPARED Although these terms are different, they are sometimes used interchangeably by different users. Perhaps you have come to realize that the difference between innovation and change lies in the fact that innovation is always planned while change may occur in response to external events. All innovations are changes, but not every change is an innovation. For any curriculum innovation to be meaningful and effective, it must be planned and organized. It is possible that changes other than innovations may occur even when they are not planned. Changes deal with alteration to what is actually happening, for example in the classroom. Innovations entail new things, for example technology, teaching approaches, etc. Curriculum innovations are measurable, durable and do not occur frequently. All changes happen because curricula emanate from societies which are dynamic. Whether changes or innovations ought to be initiated, they have to consider the relevant society in terms of social, political and economic environment. 6.4 FACTORS INFLUENCING CURRICULUM CHANGE AND INNOVATION According to the University of Zimbabwe (1995), there are several factors influencing change and innovation in schools curricula. Such factors include political, social, economic, cultural and technological environment of the country. The education system changes in order to address these emerging needs and demands. Educational changes and innovations in most countries, including your own, are products of these factors Sources of Curriculum Change and Innovation At the national level, curriculum change and innovation arise from deliberate policy decisions. In Tanzania and majority of other developing countries, nothing happens within the education system until the central authority decides 60

73 to adopt a new idea. Such changes are usually initiated through some circulars or statutory instruments. Another thrust for change and innovation is the desire of authorities at various levels to deliberately change established practices in order to address existing problems or identify new problems and ways of dealing with them. The introduction of new technology can also lead to curriculum change and innovation. For example, computers are being used in almost every venture of our society. The education system and its curriculum must adapt to this new reality. It must not only use computers for administrative purposes, but also make the computer and related technological advancements part of the curriculum. (i) Types of Change Change can be categorized into two types. Perhaps you are familiar with the types described below: Hardware Types: These changes are introduced by additions of facilities such as new classrooms, equipment, books and playgrounds. Software Types: These affect the content and range of the curriculum itself. They may be related to the methods of delivery recommended by curriculum initiators, designers and developers. (ii) Forms of Change Change can occur in the following forms: Substitution: In this change, one element replaces another previously in use. Examples are new textbooks, new equipment or the replacement of teachers and administrators. Alteration: This involves change in existing structures rather than a complete replacement of the whole curriculum, syllabus or course of study. Addition: This is the introduction of a new component without changing old elements or patterns. New elements are added to the existing programme without seriously disturbing the main structure and content of the prescribed 61

74 curriculum. These could be support inputs such as audio-visual aids, workshops and equipment. Restructuring: This involves the re-arrangement of the curriculum in order to implement desired changes. It may also involve the sharing of resources among a group of schools or institutions Strategies and Models for Curriculum Change and Innovation In order for change and innovation to succeed, the strategies for implementation of curriculum must be considered carefully. A strategy of innovation refers to the planned procedures and techniques employed in the quest for change. For example, Harris et al. (1978) model outlines the strategies for development and implementation of curriculum change in Zimbabwe as well as in other situations. These are summarized as follows: (i) Participative Problem-Solving This strategy focuses on the users, their needs and how they satisfy these needs. The system identifies and diagnoses its own needs, finds its own solution, tries out and evaluates the solution and implements the solution if it is satisfactory. The emphasis is on local initiative. (ii) Planned Linkage In this model, the intermediate agencies, such as schools, bring together the users of the innovation. (iii) Coercive Strategies These strategies operate on the basis of power and coercion by those in authority, using laws, directories, circulars and so forth. The approach employed to determine the community contributions (top-down) during the implementation of PEDP and SEDP reforms in Tanzania exemplify the strategy. (iv) Open Input Strategies 62

75 These are open, flexible, pragmatic approaches that make use of external ideas and resources. Models: Tanner and Tanner (1980), emphasize on three principal models which illustrate how changes take place. These are outlined below: (i) The Research, Development and Diffusion Model In this model, an innovation is conceived at the head or centre and then fed into the system. This model views the processes of change as a rational sequence of phases in which an innovation is: Invented or discovered, Developed, Produced, and Disseminated to the user. (ii) Problem-Solving Model This model is built around the user of the innovation, who follows the steps below. Determine the problem. Search for an innovation. Evaluate the trials. Implement the innovation. (iii) Social Interaction Model In this model, change proceeds or diffuses through formal or informal contacts between interacting social groups. It is based on the following: Awareness of innovation Interest in the innovation Trial 63

76 Adoption for permanent use. The model stresses the importance of interpersonal networks of information, opinion, leadership and personal contact. Table 6.1 Strategies and Models for Curriculum Change and Innovation Research development Problem solving Social interaction Invention of discovery of a problem Translation of need of problem Awareness of innovation Development (working out problem) Production and packaging Dissemination to mass audience Diagnosis of the problem Search and retrieval of information Adaptation of innovation Trial Interest of innovation Trial Adoption for permanent use Evaluation of trial in terms of need satisfaction Source: Tanner and Tanner (1980) Planning and Executing Change You must note that for change to be implemented in the curriculum, a process has to take place involving major factors discussed in earlier sections. At school level, an innovation (change) refers to execution of the process by organization and interaction of the four factors, i.e. operating or putting the change, change agent, user and time in use. Change agents may include teachers, school heads, local authorities or the Ministry of Education. This agent has the role of initiating the innovation or curriculum change. The user system refers to the person or group of individuals at which the innovation is 64

77 directed, and Time is the period over which this social process takes place. It is important to note that these factors interact during the process and are changed by each other to bring about desired results depending on the adequacy of strategy. It is also important to note that this, further, depends on the change agent who is responsible for planning and choice of strategy and sequence of the process. (i) The Innovation Process Innovation and change generally follow several logical steps: Identify a problem, dissatisfaction or need that requires attention; Generate possible solutions to the identified problem or need; Select a particular solution or innovation that has been identified as the most appropriate; Conduct a trial; Evaluate the proposed solution; Review the evaluation; If the innovation has solved the identified problem, implement it on a wide scale; Adopt and institutionalize the innovation or search for another solution. (ii) Innovation Planning Effective planning for innovation cannot take place unless the following elements are considered in the process (University of Zimbabwe, 1995): Personnel to be employed; Specification of the actual task; Strategy or procedure to be used to undertake the task; Equipment needed; Buildings and conduciveness of environment; Costs involved; Social contexts; 65

78 Time involved; Sequencing of activities; Rationale for undertaking the innovation; Evaluation of the consequences or effects of the innovation. (iii) Conditions for Successful Implementation of Innovations What conditions are necessary for users to implement the curriculum change or innovation successfully? Potential users of an innovation are more likely to accept it if the conditions below are met (University of Zimbabwe, 1995). The innovation must be relevant to them; It must be feasible in their particular organizational context; It must be compatible with the practices, values and characteristics of their system; It must be seen as posing little or no threat to the user group s identity, integrity and territory; The innovation must be shown to be tolerable and non-threatening; The innovation must yield material or non-material benefits. Gains in social status or recognition could be some of the non-material benefits. ACTIVITY Identify and discuss with a colleague at least three sources of curriculum change. List the major points on a flip chart for a presentation in larger face-to-face session study group. SUMMARY This lecture has introduced the concepts change and innovation as used in curriculum studies. It has shown that the two terms are related and are often used interchangeably. Furthermore, it shows that curriculum innovations are changes, adjustments and improvements in education programmes which are deliberate and enduring for achievement of desired goals and objectives. They 66

79 originate from society s political, social, economic, cultural and technological environment and can occur if there is interplay of the change agent, change itself, user of the change and time. An innovation is termed a hardware type if it is an addition of facilities like classrooms and textbooks, or a software type if it is an adjustment in the content or the subject matter of curriculum. In either case, the form of an innovation is substitution if it is about replacing certain elements of curriculum by others; alteration if existing structures of the curriculum are changed; addition if some elements are added to the curriculum without changing the pattern; or restructuring if the elements of curriculum are rearranged. Whatever the type and form, an innovation must be planned and implemented in logical steps that proceed from identification of the problem, generation and choice of possible solutions, trial and evaluation and institutionalization of the solution. This will as well consider a number of human and nonhuman resources required in innovation, as well as allowing for the necessary conditions for successful implementation of an innovation. EXERCISES 1. Give examples of curriculum change that has occurred in your country. 2. List and explain different conditions that necessitate curriculum change and innovation in your society. REFERENCES Hoyle, E. and McMahon, A. (1972). The Management of Schools. World Yearbook of Education. New York: Nichols Publishing Co. Tanner, D and Tanner, L. (1980). Curriculum Development: 67

80 Theory and Practice (2 nd edition). New York: Macmillan Publishing Company Bishop, G. (1986). Curriculum Development: A Textbook for Students. London: Macmillan Publishers. SECTION TWO EDUCATION MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY This section introduces to you the use of media and technology for effective teaching and learning. It intends to expose you into theories and concepts of educational media and communication in teaching and learning. Specifically, it purports to cover three topics: educational technology and its influence in education; communication and media in education; and the teaching and learning resources. SECTION OBJECTIVES After completing this section, you should be able to: (i) Underscore the role of technology in teaching and learning and categories of educational technologies; (ii) Understand the meaning of communication and media in education, types of media and the factors for effective communication in educational setting, and (iii) Underscore the role and importance of resource centres; function, management and equipment in a resource centre. Expected Learning Outcomes (i) Define important concepts relating to media, technology and effective communication in education. (ii) Discuss concepts and terms related to media, technology and effective communication in education. 68

81 (iii) Apply principles of effective communication to improvise required resources for effective communication during teaching and learning. LECTURE SEVEN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY 7.1 INTRODUCTION The term technology has become a common word in today s world. There is no discussion that takes place concerning development- be it social, cultural, economic, or political that does without the mention of the word technology. Technology helps us to solve problems, makes our lives easier and extends our abilities to do things. Technology is used to develop our skills or tools, both in lives and in our occupations. Technology is a broad term that refers to both artifacts created by humans such as machines, and the methods used to create those artifacts. More broadly, the term technology can be used to refer to a way of doing something or a means of organization. The word is also used to describe the extent to which a society can manipulate its environment, for example, the first technology tools were simple hand axes made by hominid ancestors millions of years ago. When it is used today technology refers to high technology such as computers, cell phones and rockets rather than technology in general. LECTURE OBJECTIVES At the end of this lecture you should be able to: (i) Explain what educational technology is? (ii) Classify categories of educational technology (iii) Demonstrate the role of educational technology in: (a) Transforming the educational system; (b) Facilitating teaching and learning process. 69

82 7.2 WHAT IS TECHNOLOGY? Technology has been defined by various authors, Biological Science Curriculum Centre (2005) defines it as a body of knowledge used to create tools, develop skills and extract or collect materials. It is also an application of science (the combination of scientific method and material) to meet an objective or solve a problem. Technology is defined as way of solving problems through the application of knowledge from multiple disciplines. 7.3 CONCEPTUALIZING EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY Educational technology has been defined by several scholars and institutions. The National Council for Educational Technology of UK defines educational technology as an application of systems, techniques and aids to improve human learning, whereas the National Centre for Programmed Learning (NCPL) also of UK views it as the application of scientific knowledge about learning and the conditions of learning in view of promoting effectiveness and efficiency in teaching-learning (Makikyeli, 2004). Richey (2008) explains that educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources. The above definitions of educational technology are often associated with, and encompass three aspects: firstly, is the use of equipment, devices or tools in support of teaching and learning; secondly, is the creation of efficiency and effectiveness as a result of supported learning and improved educational systems; and thirdly is the application of knowledge and skills through various techniques. 7.4 CATEGORIZATION OF CLASSROOM EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES Educational technologies in the classroom can be classified as follows: Tutorial Technologies These include the following: 70

83 (a) Expository learning: this is where the system provides information to the learner, for example, computer assisted instruction (CAI) or print (workbook) or study material booklet, some video, or disk. (b) Demonstration: these are technologies in which a system displays a phenomenon such as instructional television programs. (c) Practice: these are technologies in which a system requires the student to solve problems, answer questions or engage in some other practical procedures such as those provided in cassettes/disks or computer programs Expository Technologies These are technologies in which the student is free to roam around the information display or information presented in a medium such as CD-ROM, encyclopedias or virtual libraries Application Technologies These include internet surfing, word processor software, data base management programs, spreadsheets/software which help students in the educational process by providing them with tools to facilitate writing tasks Communication Technologies These are technologies which allow students/learners and teachers/facilitators to send and receive instructions or messages and information to and from one another through networks or other technologies. Communication technologies include the following: fax machine, internet and s, interactive distance learning via satellite, computer and modem, and cable links such as telephones. All these are modern technologies that constitute an example of communication technologies. 71

84 7.5 ROLES OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES IN TEACHING AND LEARNING As technology is bound to rule our present and future, it is good to obtain the know-how of the technological reforms at the earliest. Educational technologies play many roles and are capable of improving educational systems. The following are roles of educational technology: (i) Students learn faster and can adapt to changes relatively easily. If students are trained during their early school years, they have high chances of becoming experts in technology. An early beginning is always beneficial in the long run. (ii) Technology can contribute to the decrease of dropout rates, improvement in student attendance and enhancement in their learning abilities. Technology in school benefits the students during their acquisition of education. It lays a strong foundation of a successful professional life of an individual. Computers can offer livelier explanations of various subjects. The Internet is an ocean of information, which can be harnessed for the interpretation of information in school. (iii) The inclusion of technology in the process of teaching-learning makes learning an enjoyable activity, thus inviting greater interest from the students. (iv) Technology facilitates and makes easy tracking of school records. Information about all students and teachers, as well as other school employees can efficiently be maintained by means of the advanced technology. (v) Technology not only benefits the school students but also eases the office work. It makes possible, and is a more effective way of storage 72

85 and distribution of information. The introduction of technology in schools means to bridge seemingly long distance between the present and the future. SUMMARY Educational technology is of great importance in schools today as it enhances gaining of knowledge and skills in a manner that the disseminated knowledge can easily be understood by students. Educational technology makes school life easier and extends teachers and students abilities to teach and learn things. Educational technologies can be classified as follows: Tutorial technologies; which include: expository learning, demonstration, and practice. Expository technologies are technologies in which the student is free to roam around the information display e.g. CD- ROMs, encyclopedias or virtual libraries. Application technologies include internet surfing, word processor software, data base management programs, spreadsheets software. Lastly, are communication technologies: these allow students/learners and teachers/facilitators to send and receive instructions or messages and information through networks or other technologies. The following are roles of educational technology: students learn faster and can adapt to changes relatively easily. Technology can contribute to the decrease in drop-out rates, improvement in student attendance and enhancement in their learning abilities and also lays a strong foundation of a successful professional life of an individual. The inclusion of technology in the classroom makes learning an enjoyable activity, thus inviting greater interest from the students. The introduction of technology in schools means to bridge seemingly long distance between the present and the future. 73

86 EXERCISE 1. Differentiate between technology and educational technology, and identify any five types of educational technology that are used in your school. 2. To what extent do you think educational technology is applicable in distance education? 3. Discuss the benefits of using educational technology in classroom. REFERENCES Biological Science Curriculum Centre (2005). Status of Technological Competencies: A Case Study of University Librarians: Makyikyeli, N. P. S. (2004). Educational Media and Technology, First edition. The Open University of Tanzania Press. Dar es Salaam. Oak, M. (2011). Importance of Technology in Schools Richey, R. C. (2008). Reflections on the 2008 AECT Definitions of the Field. 74

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88 LECTURE EIGHT COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA IN EDUCATION 8.1 INTRODUCTION This lecture intends to introduce students to the concepts of communication and media and how media and communication are used in the classroom environment. No doubt, communication is the key factor in the success of teaching and learning processes. Effective communication makes learning enjoyable and comfortable but when there are barriers teaching and learning process may become difficult and frustrating. On the other hand, media are tools used to store and deliver information or data. Media have been introduced into schools since it is believed that they can have positive effects on teaching and learning. LECTURE OBJECTIVES At the end of this lecture you are expected to be able to: (i) Define the terms communication and media. (ii) Describe the role of communication in teaching-learning situation (iii) Apply communication theories in real classrooms (iv) Identify various types of media, barriers and considerations for improved communication in teaching and learning (v) Explain the functions and importance of media in education settings. 8.2 MEANING OF COMMUNICATION The word communication derives from Latin word communicare (communis, common) which means to impart, to give a share of, to transmit; to reveal. 76

89 Communication is the art of communicating; that which is communicated (Cassell s New English Dictionary). The essence of communication is the transmitting and receiving of information through a common system of signals and symbols, whether in form of writing or other signs, expressive movement, or the spoken word. It takes place when the behaviour of one person acts as a stimulus for the responsive behaviour of another. Richards (1989) states that communication takes place when one mind so acts upon its environment that another mind is influenced, and that other mind experience occurs which is like the experience in the first mind, and is caused in part by that experience (Curzon, 2004). The following definitions of communication are of value in the attempt to understand teaching-learning: Stoner (1989) defines communication as the process by which people attempt to share meaning via transmission of symbolic messages. Mondy (1983) describes communication as the achievement of meaning and understanding between people through verbal and non verbal means in order to affect behaviour and achieve the desired end results. Schramm (1954) sees communication as corresponding systems, coupled together through one or more non- corresponding systems, assumes identical states as a result of signal transfer along a chain. According to Koontz (1985) communication is the transfer of information from the sender to the receiver, with that information being understood by the receiver. According to Curzon (2004) in the teaching situation, communication by the teacher is generally intended to influence the learner s behaviour. Its mode will be determined, therefore, by the situation which will reflect the lesson s objectives. To that end, communication in the classroom may be verbal or nonverbal, formal or informal, one-way or two-way, designed to elicit a verbal or non-verbal response, intended to state a fact or pose a problem. Its primary 77

90 function in the teaching process is the creation and maintenance of a commonality of thought and feeling which will lead to learning. 8.3 PURPOSES OF COMMUNICATION Halliday (1973) sets seven purposes of communication: (i) Instrumental function; which causes events to happen, e.g. Begin running now (ii) The regulatory function controls events and maintains control, e.g. if you eat a lot of fats you will get obesity. (iii) The representational function involves the use of language to convey facts, to explain, to represent reality as one perceives it, e.g. You have done well in your test. (iv) Interactional function helps to ensure social maintenance by keeping open channels of communication and facilitating social exchange. (v) The personal function allows speakers to express emotional, personal feelings denote individuality, e.g. I am glad to learn about your success (vi) Heuristic function involves the use of language for the acquisition of knowledge, as where questions are asked and answered in class. (vii) The imaginative function assists in the creation and reception of ideas. 8.4 COMMUNICATION THEORIES Communication theory refers to explanations on whys and hows of communication. The theory is a conceptual presentation and explanation of general principle of communication in various aspects that is imparting knowledge or dissemination of information in business, in faith and so forth. Every communication has a perspective in which it is viewed, such perspectives are the ones which guide the theorists in choosing what to focus on and what to leave out and how to conceptualize and explain what is 78

91 involved in human communication in any context. Basing on such perspectives, theorists have come out with different theories some of which will be discussed later. 8.5 PERSPECTIVES OF COMMUNICATION THEORIES Behavioural Perspective This perspective is held by behavioural school of thought which stresses on stimulus response (SR); the perspective is drawn on behaviour change as response upon receiving a stimulant (message). Communication involves stimuli originating from various sources as well as from responses themselves often acting as stimuli and hence make an interactive communication Transitional Perspective Transitional perspective views communication as the transfer of information from source or sender to a receiver or destination. One of the generalizations observed in this perspective is that communication process is linear which means sending information from one point to another in a linear manner Interactional Perspective The interactional perspective acknowledges that communication responds reciprocally to one another. In this perspective, feedback and mutual effect are central to the concept of communication Transactional Perspective This perspective stresses on shared meanings of communication and hence perceives communication in holism. It views communication as a process in which all participants are actively engaged. The transactional perspective theorists place their attention on the context process and functions of communication. They perceive communication as being highly situational and a dynamic process that fulfills individual as well as social functions. 79

92 8.6 TYPES AND COMPONENTS OF COMMUNICATION THEORIES Researchers, Shannon, W. Shramm, C. Houland, Lasswell, E. Katz and K. Lewin have studied communication process and came out with some general agreed facts which have led to the development of communication theories. Shannon and Weaver (1948) draw on information theory to present explanation of communication system; it has important analogies with the teaching process. Their model known as Shannon and Weaver model embraces sources of information (information transmitter, signal and receiver (destination)). Consider a very simple system of communication, for example where a teacher speaks to students. The system may include the following three elements: (a) A source (transmitter)- the speaker (b) A channel- the sound of the speaker s words traveling through air (c) A receiver- the listener. The system may be represented by the simple diagram in Figure 8.1. Spoken words Drawings Pictures Channel TRANSMITTER (Source) RECEIVER Figure 8.1: A Simple Schema of Shannon and Weaver Communication System Modified from Curzon, (2004) Shannon and Weaver sketched a relatively simple model of the communication process: a message flows along a selected channel from source to receiver. 80

93 Emitted signal are decoded by the receiver. The Shannon and Weaver model seemed to ignore the important role of the feedback in the process of communication. Shannon and Weaver s model is not suitable to explain human communication in the classroom. For example human beings function as sources and destinations; each person in a communication event is both transmitter and receiver. Thus when a teacher (T) talks face to face with the learner (L), T s words, postures are of relevance as part of the message sent to L s postures. Schramm model of communication (Figure 8.2) incorporates belief that what is communicated is only what is shared in the fields of the experience of message source and destination (e.g. T and L). Sender Encoder Signal Decoder Receiver Noise Figure 8.2: Field of experience of the teacher Source: Schramm s model of the communication process Berlo (1960) draws attention to the fact that purpose and audience are not separable. All communication behaviour has its purpose which is the eliciting of a specific response from a specific person (or group of persons). His model, which is based on the exchange of information between parties, stresses the significance of feedback and the contribution to the process of communication made by cultural influences and communication skills. Concepts such a source, encoder, decoder should not be viewed as entities or people; they are 81

94 the names of the behaviours which have to be performed for communication to occur. The following are features that emerge from the above model; firstly, communication is viewed best as a process, that is, a series of sequential activities directed to the time end. Secondly, communication involves interpersonal relationship. Thirdly, communication involves traffic and symbols which, by their very nature are concepts intended to be transmitted. Finally, communication, if it is to be effective, necessitates an accepted commonality of meaning attached to its symbols. Berlo s communication model which encompasses learning also regarded sense organs as channels in the sense that one gains knowledge or information through hearing, seeing, touching, smelling or testing. Whatever the model one works with, each acknowledges the existence of the source, channel and receiver as the main elements of communication process. A critical observation is that for every communication process there is possibility of interference, which may hinder or delay message from reaching its destination in time or as instant as intended. Each of these elements of communication process is discussed below. The communication system illustrated in Figure 8.3 is made up of the following components: (a) An information source (sender) from which the message material originates; these include individual speaking, writing, drawing or gesturing or an organization like a publishing house, television station etc. (b) A transmitter which transforms (or encodes) the message into a form suitable for the channel. These include: A noise source which interferes with the flow of information between transmitter and receiver and reduces the probability of the message being received correctly to less than one. Shannon pointed out, that the efficiency of communication system as a whole is defined in part by the probability that noise will change the 82

95 information content of the message. Noise is used here in its communication engineering sense of unpredictable, random and unwanted signals that mask the information content of a communication channel. Effectively, it is anything added to the signal that is not intended by the information source. (c) A receiver which decodes the message encoded by the transmitter (d) A destination for the message (e) Feedback The communication system of a typical lesson may be considered as including the following elements: (a) An information source- the brain of the teacher (b) A transmitter- the teacher s voice mechanism which produces a signal which will be transmitted through a channel (air) (c) Noise which distorts the signal and which may result from computing stimuli e.g. destruction in the classroom environment, or an irrelevant meaning read into the message on the basis of the listener s previous experience (d) A receiver- the students sensory organs (e) A destination- the students thought processes (f) Feedback e.g. by questions and answers. Transmission channel Noise Sender Noise Receiver Ideas: thought processes Encoding for transmission Signals (Message) Decoding (interpretation ) Action Noise Feedback Figure 8.3: Fundamental features of the communication process Source: Shannon and Weaver (1948) 83

96 Shannon and Weaver identify three levels of communication problems: (a) With the accuracy; can the very symbols of a message be transmitted- the problem with techniques; (b) With what precision; do the symbols convey the meaning of the message? The problem with semantics; (c) With what effectiveness; does the received meaning affect behaviour? The problem of effectiveness. 8.7 SUCCESS AND BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION The following are the barriers to effective communication: (i) Distraction/Noise: communication is affected a lot by noise or distractions. Physical distractions such as poor lighting, poor sitting arrangement and dirty rooms also affect communication in a classroom. Similarly, excessive use of loud speakers interferes with communication. (ii) Information Overload: Managers are surrounded with a pool of information. It is essential to control this information flow or else the information is likely to be misinterpreted or forgotten or overlooked. As a result communication becomes less effective. (iii) Inattention: At times we just not listen, but only hear. For example a traveler may pay attention to one NO PARKING sign, but if such sign is put all over the city, he no longer listens to it. Thus, repetitive messages should be ignored for effective communication. Similarly, if a superior is engrossed in his paper work and his subordinate explains him his problem, the superior may not get what his subordinate is saying, this leads to disappointment of subordinate. (iv) Time Pressures: Often in organization the targets have to be achieved within a specified time period, the failure of which has adverse consequences. In a haste to meet deadlines, the formal channels of communication are 84

97 shortened, or messages are partially given, i.e., not completely transferred. Thus sufficient time should be given for effective communication. (v) Emotions: Emotional state at a particular point of time also affects communication. If the receiver feels that the communicator is angry he interprets that the information being sent is not good. While he takes it differently if the communicator is happy and jovial (in that case the message is interpreted to be good and interesting). (vi) Complexity in Organizational Structure: The greater the hierarchy in an organization (i.e. more the number of managerial levels), the more the chances of communication getting destroyed. Only the people at the top level can see the overall picture while the people at low level just have knowledge about their own area and a little knowledge about other areas. (vii) Poor Retention: Human memory cannot function beyond limit. One cannot always retain what is being told especially if he is not interested or not attentive. This leads to communication breakdown. 8.8 FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION Communication serves four major functions within an institution: (i) Control within the organization there is a hierarchy of commands to follow therefore communication helps in the control of the member behaviour. (ii) Motivation communication promotes motivation by clarifying to employees what is to be done, how well they are doing, and what can be done to improve performance. (iii) Emotional expression communication provides a release for the emotional expression of feelings and for fulfillment of social needs. (iv) Information - communication enables people to participate in planning and make informed decisions on social issue. 85

98 8.9 EDUCATIONAL MEDIA Media are defined in a number of ways including the following: (i) Media are defined as communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data, or promotional messages are disseminated. Media includes every broadcasting and narrowcasting medium such as newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, billboards, direct mail, telephone, fax, and internet. Media is the plural of medium and can take a plural or singular verb, depending on the sense intended (Business Dictionary.com). (ii) Media also refers to data storage material divided into three broad categories according to the recording method: (a) Magnetic, such as diskettes, disks, tapes, (b) Optical, such as microfiche, and (c) Magneto- Optical, such as CDs and DVDs. (iii) Media is a way of communicating or portraying certain message (s) to a group of people, media has a sender (source) and a receiver. In educational settings, media is used in classrooms to easily pass instructional materials to learners. Mondela and Schramm (1969) define media as a channel of communication derived from latin word comminis which means common or between. It refers to anything that carries information between a source and a receiver (Business Dictionary.com). On the other hand, Romiszowski (1981) define media as a carrier of message, from transmitting source to the receiver of the message Types of Educational Media There are various types of educational media including the following: (a) Print media: Print as a media of instruction of knowledge or information is very old. The use of written words to serve educational purposes actually started back in 1105 AD. Print has become a dominant teaching and learning medium. Attributes of print media are many compared to 86

99 other forms of media. Print media present words, numbers, musical notation, diagrams and many other signs. (b) Audio media: talks/conversation (e.g. one-way radio broadcast, two-way radio broadcast, one-way videotaped material) in this case there are images from which learners can learn. (c) Audio-Visual media: e.g. television or film and video taped, cassettes, radio, telephone or cell-phone interactive, computer, and videotexts. (d) Visual media: include all sorts of graphics and real images, including virtual reality. Visual media are types of media where teachers are compelled to use visual aids as often as possible for effective learning. Visual media frequently used in teaching and learning are categorized into still form and the motioned form. The still form used in teaching learning include: chalkboards, flannel boards, felt boards, hook and loop boards, magnetic boards, charts, hand-outs, posters, flipchart, models, real objects and slides. (e) Electronic media: these include the following; CD/CD-ROMs, computers and DVDs. Electronic media are new form of media used to facilitate teaching and learning in classrooms. Use of this media in teaching and learning has been used in developed countries for years, while the same technologies are trying to gain momentum in developing countries. (f) Tactile: This is an instrument or material that is detectable to the sense of touch e.g., Braille printout Functions and Importance of Media in Education Settings The way teachers view the role of media in classroom teaching will to a large extent determine the level and degree of its usage. Romiszowski (1998) has grouped the roles of media in education settings into two. In the first instance, media are used as instructional aide, here media are used exclusively to 87

100 enhance or enrich the teacher s presentation. Media used in this way are basically one-way transmitters, quite incapable of interpreting any messages that the learner may transmit. Secondly, media are used as instructional systems. Instructional systems are defined as instructional experiences which make learner s acquisition of knowledge and skill more efficient, effective, and appealing. They are used to promote individualization of instruction in both conventional and nonconventional settings. Makikyeli (2004) acknowledged the following functions of educational media. (i) Delivery of Information Media facilitates delivery of information. Media are capable of transmitting information, education, and experiences. In advanced societies communication is done through language in form of sound, print, graphics or in electronics. The public is kept informed of what is taking place through newspapers, radio, television etc. (ii) Entertainment Function To a large extent media entertains students in the classroom through its usage; in the form of sound, radio or musical instruments or even television, video programs, DVDs and CDs. (iii) Persuasion Function Media strives to make lessons more persuasive and interesting especially the audio visual. Radio, television broadcasts, newspapers, leaflets, and brochures all have been used for the purpose of persuasion at one time or another. Learners observe and pay attention to what is taught, while the teacher elaborates on an issue in front of the students. (iv) Influencing Function Media influences learners once an action occurs, and this is capable to change learners behaviour, attitudes, or beliefs. Many people especially in the 88

101 developing countries have been influenced by foreign culture, languages, music, dressing styles etc. The influence has occurred through media such as television, videos, CDs, DVDs, films etc. SUMMARY Communication can be linked with teaching and learning process as follows: Stoner (1989) defines communication as the process by which people attempt to share meaning via transmission of symbolic messages. Schramm (1954) sees communication as corresponding systems, coupled together through one or more non-corresponding systems, assume identical states as a result of signal transfer along a chain. Koontz (1985) sees communication as the transfer of information from the sender to the receiver, with the information being understood by the receiver. Communication is a perplexing process, at any stage of this process things may go wrong, making the communication less effective. The following are barriers to effective communication: distraction/noise, information overload, inattention, time pressures, emotions, complexity in organizational structure, poor retention. Media is a communication channel therefore media and communication are mutually exclusive. Media have been introduced into schools because it is believed that media have positive effects on teaching and learning. Media include symbol systems as diverse as print, graphics, animation, audio, and motion pictures. 89

102 EXERCISES 1. What is the importance of communication between students and teachers in classroom setting? 2. Discuss how communication theories apply in real life situation. 3. Identify the indicators of poor communication. 4. Explain with vivid examples how media has been used to influence learning process and culture. 5. What is the impact of the media in current Tanzania secondary school teaching and learning? REFERENCES Berlo, D. (1960). The Process of Communication. Rinehart and Winston. Business Dictionary.com Accessed on May, 2012 Curzon, L. B. (2004). Teaching in Further Education: An Outline of Principles and Practice, 6 th Edition. Continuum: London. Clause, E. Shannon and Weaver, W. (1948). The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Illinois Oak, M. (2011) Importance of Technology in Schools Halliday, J. (1973). Explanations in the Function of Language. Merrill, M. D., Drake, L., Lacy, M. J., Pratt, J., & ID2_Research_Group. (1996). Reclaiming instructional design. Educational Technology, 36(5), 5-7. Mondy, J. (1983). Communication in Management-Concepts and Practices. London: Allyn and Bacon. Merril, D. M. Reclaiming Instructional Design Khan, F. and Khan, M. E. (2012). Achieving Success through Effective Business Communication: 90

103 studyguide.com/communication_barriers.htm Makyikyeli, N. P. S. (2004). Educational Media and Technology, First edition. Dar es Salaam: The Open University of Tanzania. Richards, F. (1989). Communication in Management. London: Prentice-Hall. Romiszowski, A. J. (1998). The Selection and use of Instructional Media. London: Kegan Page. Shramm, W. (1954). How Communication Works in the Effects and Process of Mass Communication. Illinois. Stonner, E. (1989). Communication and Management. Prentice Hall. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology TOJET January 2009 ISSN: volume 8 Issue 1 Article 876ela. 91

104 LECTURE NINE TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCES 9.1 INTRODUCTION Teaching/learning resources include human and non-human resources. There are various aids, media or technology the teachers, educators and students use to facilitate the task of teaching and learning. Such resources are of different forms and types. A resource center is a partnership of staff, students and faculty who are ready to assist each other to develop and grow academically. The major objectives of a resource centre are to help academically under prepared students with the opportunity to develop the necessary skills and knowledge to be successful in the classroom. Resource centers provide resources that enhance academic development. LECTURE OBJECTIVES At the end of this lecture you are expected to be able to: (i) Explain how teaching and learning resources can be used in teaching (ii) Demonstrate the ability to select relevant teaching-learning resources and learning materials in different environments (iii) Identify merits and demerits of various type of resources used in teaching and learning. 9.2 MEANING OF TEACHING AND LEARNING RESOURCES Teaching-learning resources are defined as information represented, accessible, or stored in a variety of media and formats and that can be used in the classroom to facilitate teaching and learning. Often students have found it difficult to study because they are not aware of various resources they could use for further studies. Also, teachers and tutors have been using poor teaching 92

105 strategies which have led to their students poor performance in learning because of the same problem. Teaching and learning resources include human and non-human resources, educators and students use to facilitate the teaching and learning. Some of these are tangible and movable while others are conceptual and intangible. The tangible ones include human beings, objects, specimen and models. Another teaching-learning resource is place, this falls under unmovable non-human resources. The use of these resources in teaching-learning not only makes it easier for students to comprehend contents of the subject, but also makes teaching-learning enjoyable and flexible. The use of each of these resources is discussed below Human Resources Sometimes a seminar or workshop may be held in the village by a foreign organization and you are invited to participate as a local expert in educating the villagers on, for example, how to make and use biogas for domestic purposes. You and the foreign experts are human resources (resource persons). In this case, parents or community members around your schools, or from other institutions in your area who have specific knowledge, and experience can at one time become resource persons in a teaching situation. Likewise, any other informed person becomes a resource when she/he makes herself/himself available in a flexible manner to assist an individual student in learning difficulties. The use of this form of resource can be very effective if properly selected, but at the same time it can create problems if incompetent persons are used. Incompetent human resource can mislead students or learners Objects Some subject matters are difficult for other people to conceptualize unless they see the real things. This could be attributed to the fact that some objects are not 93

106 found within their homes or communities. For example, to some students in primary school, a magnetic bar and how it attracts other objects may not be easily conceptualized unless the teacher brings it to the class and students are shown how it functions. Reactions upon stimuli are often difficult to conceptualize Specimen Some of the subject contents that students learn are inner parts of the body. Such parts cannot be seen or touched, for example, digestion or nervous systems or the ear and its inner parts. To facilitate teaching and learning about such parts, the use of specimen may be necessary. Specimens are bits or images of real things. They are crucially important in the teaching of natural sciences. They are particularly used in medical classes where human beings cannot be used as teaching aids in dangerous activities such as in operations Places Some topics taught at school are better understood if students can visit the place such as historical sites, national parks, conservation area, dams, waterfalls, courts etc. For instance, it is difficult to get feelings of the torture or to comprehend slavery cruelty unless one visits the slavery markets and the caves in which the slaves were kept captives while waiting to be auctioned, like those in Zanzibar Outdoor Laboratory Besides the sciences laboratories, some rooms or places can be converted into simple laboratories by getting them equipped with equipment to facilitate experiments, practical or displays. For example, language laboratories and audio-visual studios or any other places other than classroom where scientific experiments can be performed with the use of science kits. Visiting such laboratories arouses interest for critical learning. 94

107 9.2.6 Libraries Libraries can make a very useful resource for teaching and learning because a well equipped library will have books of various titles, journals, papers, studies and research reports. Some modern libraries have CD- ROMs, stationery facilities including photocopier, fax machines, computers connected to internet to mention but a few. All these library materials can equip the teachers with necessary information and enrich/enhance their teaching, or providing students with useful information to enrich their studying. It is advisable that teachers and students should orient themselves to the culture of reading printed materials placed in libraries Management of Resources It has been observed that resources for teaching and learning include all media that facilitate teaching and learning experiences. These are discussed above in the form of human resource. Equipment, places and things (models, specimen and objects) are some of the resources that may easily be acquired, however, it is difficult for others to be made available especially the sophisticated modern ones. When resources are available they should be handled with care, kept in their required conditions and have them serviced from time to time. Management and handling of each individual type of resources is discussed below: (i) Human Resources Human resources include subject experts, researchers, teachers, program developers, technicians, coordinators and others. These are just as delicate as some equipment. Since they are social beings, each of them is unique. While each participates as a team member their management will need to ensure that: The position and duties of each resource person are clearly identified. The objectives of the centre are known to the persons concerned. The position held and role played by each individual person is recognized and respected. Resource persons are properly placed to avoid misuse of manpower. 95

108 Conducive working environment is provided. The whole management team is encouraged to participate in planning and in the implementation of resolution at various levels. A feedback mechanism is established for the purpose of ensuring the smooth functioning of the centre. (ii) Electronic Equipment/Media Most of these resources are complicated and fragile which makes them expensive. For these reason these should be: Handled with care. Where possible they should not be moved about. Thoroughly and adequately serviced from time to time. (iii) Specimen/ Models/Objects Some of these resources are very delicate (especially specimen). These should be kept in relevant containers such as bottles, boxes, aquarium, etc, and in place where they are not disturbed. They should be well protected from dust and dampness and be handled with care. (iv) Places These are places which include historical buildings or sites, caves, towers, museums, grounds, waterfalls etc. They should be provided with people to learn, guard and guide visitors. (v) Time Time is a very useful resource which more than often has been mismanaged. When time is properly managed, it influences efficiency and effectiveness especially in the act of teaching and learning. When mismanaged time has led into failure in a number of events which have consequently led to poverty. In learning situation for instance, if you ask some students when they normally go for football matches or discos. They would easily tell you they had scheduled an evening in a week to participate in watching football match and some hours 96

109 every Saturday evening to attend disco. But if you ask them which time in a week was set aside for study. You would probably realize that studying or reading to acquire knowledge or useful information is normally fitted into spare or unplanned time. It is very important that one s plan for management of time include time for studying. SUMMARY Teaching-learning resources are defined as information represented, accessible, or stored in a variety of media and formats and that can be used into the classroom to facilitate teaching and learning. A Resource center is a place where teachers and students get educational support on teaching and learning. The support services include library services, ICT services, and public information. Teaching/learning resources include human and nonhuman resources including various aids, media or technology, the teachers, educators and students use to facilitate the task of teaching and learning. Some resources are tangible and movable while others are conceptual and intangible. The tangible one includes human beings, objects, specimen and models. EXERCISES 1. Outline and discuss various facilities that are found in the resource center. 2. Distinguish between a resource centre and a teacher resource. Outline various resource centers available close to where you live. REFERENCES Edwards, B. (2009). Libraries and Learning Resource Centres. ourcesdefi.pdf Makikyeli, N. P. S. (2003). Educational Media and Technology, First edition. Dar es Salaam: The Open University of 97

110 Tanzania. Educational Resources Centre: University of Princeton (Accessed in May 2012) 98

111 SECTION THREE LEARNING THEORIES AND TEACHING This section introduces you to the learning theories as applied in delivery of classroom instructions. It seeks to enable you apply different learning theories in schools and classroom settings, by discussing the evolution and implication of the learning theory through classical, behavioural to constructivist eras. Thereafter, the different models of teaching are discussed in light of different contexts of learning. SECTION OBJECTIVES After studying this section you should be able to: (i) Understand the concepts learning, teaching and related terms. (ii) Examine the evolution of the learning theory through different epochs and its influence on teaching. (iii) Examine the different models of teaching. (iv) Appraise the current efforts to improve teaching and learning in Tanzania. Expected Learning Outcomes (a) To define and discuss important concepts relating to teaching and learning. (b) To design and execute teaching for specific learning outcomes. (c) To advise appropriately on interventions for improving teaching and learning. 99

112 LECTURE TEN EVOLUTION OF THE LEARNING THEORY 10.1 INTRODUCTION This lecture introduces the theories of teaching and learning as applied in the delivery of classroom instructions. It presents the use of different teaching and learning theories in the school and classroom settings. This is done by studying the way learning has been going on over time, consequently changing its understanding over time. The influences of changing understanding of learning over teaching are underscored, thus establishing the relationships between the two. As such, the historical development of learning theories is studied as ranging from classical, through behavioural to construction of knowledge perspectives. It is along this continuum that considerations of teaching that empowers the learners are given. LECTURE OBJECTIVES By going through this lecture you are expected to be able to: (i) Express an understanding of how the theory of learning evolved over time through classical, behavioural and constructivist eras. (ii) Demonstrate an understanding of the learning theory and its implication on teaching. (iii) Analyze the different efforts and intervention geared to improve teaching and learning. (iv) Identify strategies for teaching that empowers learners MEANING OF THEORY A theory is an accurate, predictive description of a phenomenon. Scientifically, it is used as a plausible general principle or body of principles offered to 100

113 explain a phenomenon. The term is expressed in a number of ways; for example by contrasting it with practice. In this contrast, it connotes the descriptions, explanations and instructions about actions (practice) in a given phenomenon. In teaching and learning of subjects like geography, physics, agriculture or teaching we refer to them as theories when they are about explanations, descriptions, and or instructions; we refer them as practice when they are about applying such explanations, descriptions and instructions in actions. Application of the theoretical principles therefore guides or controls the related practice. The theoretical part deals with answering questions by describing and explaining while the practical part deals with doing, for example, teaching a class using group discussion which we will later see as one of the principles of the social constructivist theory. The second expression of the term theory is derived when it is used to denote a particular way or ways of explaining a phenomenon, for example the theories of learning, or theories of motivation and so on. In such expressions, we refer to particular ways of describing learning, motivation and so on. Such expressions imply that there are many theories or particular ways of describing learning, motivation or any other phenomenon. For example in learning, we talk of behaviourist theories, humanist theories, and cognitive theories and so on. Sometimes, these particular theories are grouped to form broader ways of thinking, namely paradigms or philosophies about learning. For example, many theories in the group of behaviourism when put together make up a philosophy which conceives learning as behavioural change. Other philosophies or paradigms like humanists and cognitivists have conceptions about learning as it is later observed in this section. Yet, a third expression would derive from putting together the different expressions of learning into one unified whole, e.g., the learning theory. Such a conception assumes that at a given time, all research information can be put together and construct a unified explanation about learning. As research goes on and new findings are established, more explanations about what learning involves are added and others rejected. This 101

114 is the way a learning theory or unified explanation about learning has developed. EXERCISES? 1. After these explanations, what can you say is the meaning of the word theory? 2. Can you think of any other meanings and expressions of the word theory? 3. If you put all your understanding together, what theory do you come up with? 10.3 DEVELOPMENT OF THE LEARNING THEORY The beginning of the learning theory is usually associated with the work of Pavlov, but there is also a view that explanation guiding the understanding of teaching and learning was there for a long time. Teachers like Jesus, Plato and Socrates coming before Pavlov, Skinner and other theorists documented in western literature were also respected for their brilliant, principled teaching. Different societies had their own beliefs and ways to appraise, guide and or explain the work of people teaching others as well as what learning involved for hundreds of years ago. Developments in descriptions, expressions and instructions which have guided teaching and learning can be sub-divided into four eras as follows: (i) Classical Era: Theories (i.e. explanations or understanding) of learning before Ivan Pavlov s experiments in the 1920s. (ii) Behaviourist Era: A paradigm, philosophy, or thinking in which learning was explained as behavioural change. It started with Pavlov s experiments in the 1920s and dominated the theory of learning up to mid- 1960s. (iii) Piaget s Studies: These studies form the beginning or the base for the thinking and understanding that learning is construction of knowledge. Although Piaget s first book that explained about his findings was 102

115 translated to English in 1940, serious consideration was given to his ideas in the mid-1960s. So, the next era actually started about 20 or so years after Piaget s initial studies. (iv) Constructivist Era: This is the current paradigm, philosophy or thinking about what learning involves. In this paradigm, learning is viewed as construction of knowledge. The paradigm is based on Piaget s studies of the 1930s but as explained above, started to be taken seriously in the mid- 1960s. Most of the current research on learning is made within this paradigm. ACTIVITIES 1. Read an Introductory Chapter of Wood, D. (1998). From Pavlov to Piaget in How Children Learn. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers {also available at or 2. Prepare and make a brief presentation of the summary to a study group for a critical review by colleagues CLASSICAL EXPLANATIONS ABOUT LEARNING Classical learning theories refer to explanations of learning which came before learning was studied through empirical researches. Before empirical researches, philosophers and other people engaging in teaching others only used their imaginations to figure out how learning could evolve. The few philosophers whose ideas were documented include thinkers like Plato, Socrates, Confucius, Locke, Rousseau, Pestalozzi and others, mainly in the Western world. Available literature does not make it possible to include thinkers and teachers from some parts of the world including Africa because they did not put their ideas into writing. Some of these imaginations are remembered because they were later supported by empirical research that informs today s thinking. But others are remembered because empirical research proved them contrary to the 103

116 current thinking about learning and teaching. Thus, whether the idea was supported or refuted by empirical researches, contemporary learning theory is founded on previous ideas including the classical explanations. Let us now explore a couple of contributions by Confucius, Socrates, Locke, Rousseau and Pestalozzi to represent ideas of colleagues in the classical era: (i) Confucius ( BC) was a Chinese. In his thinking he emphasised that education should preserve traditional values. He viewed learning as essentially taking traditional wisdom, storing it, and transmitting it to others. To him, a good learner was a vessel and transmitter of wisdom. Here, a vessel refers to a container for keeping or storing things and a transmitter is a means of transferring information from one person to other persons. So, for Confucius, a good learner stored the knowledge and passed it to others. (ii) Socrates ( BC) was a Greek. He taught by asking questions until the students realized and corrected the knowledge themselves. He believed that the learner was able to find out things (i.e. knowledge) by himself. He only needed some challenging help from the teacher. As a teacher, Socrates helped his learners through challenging questions that led them to knowledge. (iii) John Locke ( AD) was a British. He worked as a university lecturer and a medical doctor. He introduced the tutorial method of teaching and believed that at birth, children s brains were like empty slates. To him, teaching meant filling these blank slates with knowledge, ideas and experiences. So to him, learning meant taking in knowledge and experiences for filling the learners empty brains. (iv) Jean Jacques Rousseau ( AD) was a Swiss living in France. He believed that learning is taking place in natural environments through exploration. To him, teaching had to involve exposing the child to nature and letting him or her explore and learn through experience. If the child made mistakes, the teacher had not to punish him or her, but leave it to nature for 104

117 teaching him or her. Taking from his child Emile breaking a window, Rousseau decided to let him learn by experiencing the cold instead of whipping him like others would do. In his thinking, this was a better lesson than whipping. (v) Johan Pestalozzi ( ) was a Swiss philosopher influenced by Rousseau s writings. He started a school within Rousseau s philosophy of learning from the natural environment. So, as Rousseau, learning to him was through exploration in the natural world. He believed on educating the whole child; that is, physically, mentally, and emotionally. To him, learning was to take place in a friendly environment. Teachers need to respect children and base their discipline on love for these children. Schools are like good homes where teachers behave like good parents. From these ideas, we learn that thinkers and teachers were faced with different challenges and their thinking was a way of reacting to those challenges of their time. Different contexts pose different demands and challenges, hence different reactions manifested in ideas about education and other social institutions. Confucius, for example, thought of learning that would preserve traditional wisdom and values. We can imagine that his society at that time was in need of that quality. It is possible that as it is in contemporary societies, Confucius s society at that time was also in danger of losing its valuable traditional values. As a result, he wanted learning that could restore these values. We can make a similar analysis for the other philosophers. But the basic idea here is that as student teachers we need to relate this analysis to our time. We need to study the challenges of our society today and think about the kind of learning that would best address the challenges. 105

118 EXERCISES 1. What is your opinion about these ways of thinking about learning, teaching and education? 2. From these philosophies, what do you find relevant in education today? 3. How would do compare Socrates and John Locke s ideas? 4. What influence do Locke s ideas have on teaching today? 5. What do you like or do not like in Rousseau s thinking? Why? 10.5 BEHAVIOURAL EXPLANATIONS ABOUT LEARNING The behavioural explanations about learning base on experiments and findings by Pavlov, Thorndike and Skinner between the second half of 18 th century and early 19 th century. Behaviourism was the first learning theory that came about as a result of scientific research. Its origin and growth are linked to some aspects within the scientific environment of the time. Scientific research had to entail experimentation, careful and systematic observation, measurement and calculations. Furthermore, it had to be verifiable, i.e. possible to be proved true by others; and replicable, i.e. possible to be repeated in same way. Retrospection (e.g. research by asking people to tell about their earlier experiences) was at that time considered un-scientific. Classical explanations of learning in terms of gaining knowledge were considered difficult to observe scientifically, so, the behavioural psychologists focused their studies on observable behaviour. Secondly, from Darwin s famous book, The origin of Species which came out in 1859, human beings were viewed to be similar with other animals in many ways. Thus, it was accepted during the behaviourist times that studying the behaviour of other animals could provide insights to human behaviour. Instead of doing experiments with human beings, researchers worked with simpler animals such as dogs, cats and rats, and the findings from these experiments were generalised to include human beings. The aim was to understand, predict and control human behaviour. In relation to learning, they wanted to understand and explain it as behaviour so that they could predict and control its occurrence. 106

119 Pavlov did his experiments with dogs, Thorndike with cats, and Skinner with rats and pigeons. Pavlov s experiment developed a theory known as classical conditioning while Thorndike and Skinner s experiments developed operant conditioning. In classical conditioning, learning is explained as change in behaviour caused by conditioning. Conditioning in this context refers to paring a natural with conditioned stimuli in order to produce a certain response. In a course of time, such pairing cease to be necessary and the conditioned stimulus alone produces the response. In his experiment, Pavlov paired the food (natural stimulus) and a ringing bell (conditioned stimulus) to make a dog salivate (behaviour). After some time the dog salivated when the bell rang, even if it was not accompanied by food. Phillips and Soltis (1998) argue that this explains conditioning in human learning which occurs from birth to adulthood. In operant conditioning, learning is explained as a change in behaviour caused by reinforcement in the form of practice and rewards. Operant conditioning constitutes of the law of exercise and law of effect. The law of exercise holds that the more certain behaviour is practised the stronger it is established. Thorndike came to this conclusion after experimenting with a cat which while in a cage, had to find its way out or to a piece of fish for food. The cat used trial and error method to solve this problem, first by taking a long time to find the solution and a shorter time after repeating the procedure for several times. Repetition helped the cat learn how to solve the problem in shorter time. Thus, the law of exercise means that practice makes a newly learned behaviour more permanent or in other words, practice reinforces behaviour. The law of effect holds that rewarded behaviour is more likely to be repeated. In his experiments, Thorndike found out that during trial and error, when the cat did an action that was rewarded (e.g. pressing a particular lever that resulted to a piece of fish dropping), the cat repeated this action. So, he formulated this finding to make what he called the law of effect. In this law, it is established that pleasant response are more likely to be repeated than unpleasant ones. 107

120 Therefore, rewarded behaviour is reinforced or in other words, rewarding reinforces behaviour. Skinner took the study further after Thorndike and found out that in order to provide motivation for particular behaviour to continue, it does not necessarily mean to provide rewards at every instance. Providing rewards at certain intervals is even a better way of reinforcing behaviour. The thinking of behaviourists has dominated teaching for more than a century. Definition of learning as a permanent change of behaviour is still dominant in the literature. Terms like motivation, reinforcement and behavioural change are common jargon in education today. However, the environment of psychological research has changed a lot compared to that which existed during the birth of behaviourism. Current conventions of scientific research for example, no longer reject methods such as retrospection and others, which try to reveal the learning processes within human beings. This has allowed for tremendous developments in the theory of learning. The broad knowledge that exists about what learning involves has opened doors for many alternative ways of teaching. It is an obligation that educationists up-date their understanding about these developments and use the understanding accordingly to resolve various teaching and learning issues THE BEHAVIOURIST THEORY AND ITS INFLUENCE ON TEACHING Pavlov, Thorndike and Skinner conducted their experiments with animals to come up with a theory that learning is change in behavior caused by conditioning. According to them, if this change of behavior is practiced and reinforced through rewards or motivation, it becomes permanent. Therefore, the key ideas in behaviourism are based on the stimulus-responsereinforcement paradigm. The human behaviour is thought to be under control of the external environment. Teachers who believe that learning is a behavioural change will therefore provide the learners with learning materials 108

121 in an environment where different motivation techniques will be employed to reinforce change in the learner s behaviour STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE BEHAVIOURIST LEARNING THEORY The behaviourist thinking has dominated teaching in our schools for a very long time. This is because teachers believe that learning is change of behaviour, which is observable. According to Thorndike s law of exercise and law of effect, teachers believe that the more learners exercise desired and rewarded behaviour, the more likely for that behaviour to be repeated. Teachers therefore tend to make learners practice or repeat what they want them to learn with the hope that they will master it. The law of exercise explains that the more certain behaviour is practiced, the stronger it is established. Since learning in behaviourist thinking is based on stimulus-response-reinforcement paradigm, it has a number of positive features. It is very simple to implement. One single mechanism, conditioning, is responsible for producing learning. This mechanism operates in the whole animal kingdom although the referent experiments were done with small animals. The psychologists claim that the findings from these animals can be applied to human beings, as they believed that human behavior could be predicted and controlled. People respond to things in their environment with a conditioning effect. These forces stimulate individuals to engage in or avoid certain behavior. And once behaviour has been learnt, the probability that it will occur again can be strengthened or decreased by responses in the environment. It is easy to master! The basic thing is that what teachers have to do is rewarding the desired behaviour and prohibit undesired one through punishment. So, rewarding in learning is considered effective. Humans believe that getting the right answer is very rewarding. 109

122 On the other hand reliance on behaviourist thinking in learning can have some limitations. The theory relies very heavily on extrinsic motivation. Behaviourism does not consider intrinsic motivation. According to Piek and Mahlangu, (1990) extrinsic motivation stems from outside the subject area. Such may include good learning environment, an academically competent teacher, prizes, praises, marks and many other rewards. If there is over-reliance on external motivation learning will not take place when that motivating factor is withdrawn. Intrinsic motivation on the other hand, stems from within the learner. This kind of motivation can be found when, for example, the learners find out that the subject matter is so meaningful that it stimulates their interests that they become so absorbed in learning without necessity of external forces. This is the best form of motivation because it stems from the learner s own belief in what he or she does. It therefore encourages learning and satisfies selfesteem and self-actualization of the learner. To achieve this, the teacher has to make sure that, what is being learnt is not above the learner s ability to comprehend; that it arouses the interest of the learner; it is linked to learner s prior knowledge; and it is presented in such a way that the learner realizes that it is of utmost importance to him or her. Since in behaviourist thinking learning focuses mainly on observable behaviour, the learner is subjected to conditions, which will make him or her change his behaviour passively which may result in surface learning. Construction and use of knowledge which is one of central aspects in learning is not adequately considered in behaviourism. EXERCISES 1. What is your opinion on the idea about explaining learning in terms of only observable behaviour (i.e. without referring to knowledge)? 2. Do you accept the idea that human behaviour, particularly human learning, is similar to that of animals like cats, dogs, 110

123 and rats? Why do you support the idea? 3. How much in your experience, does behaviourist thinking influence our teaching today? 4. Can you provide examples of this influence in your own teaching or from other teachers you have observed? 5. Conventional approaches to lesson planning have stages such as practice stage and/or reinforcement. How these relate to Thorndike s law of exercise and law of effect in operant conditioning? 10.8 CONSTRUCTIVIST EXPLANATIONS ABOUT LEARNING Jean Piaget ( ) and Lev Vygotsky ( ) were propounders of constructivist thinking about learning. It compensates the oversimplification in the behavioural explanation of learning. In constructivist explanation, the aspect of knowledge is given emphasis. Thus, the explanation is founded on the way it takes care of weaknesses in the behaviourist explanation. In our discussion on behaviourism, we found that scientific research did not encourage studies of unobservable behaviour. Such researches therefore did not focus on epistemic processes, specifically knowledge. Rather, focus was on externally observable behaviour. It takes cognizance of learning as involving a lot more than what can be externally observed. It also takes cognizance of many ideas, insights, and emotional feelings not seen by others or explained as we do in observable behaviours. It reiterates the classical theories viewpoint that knowledge was the point in focus of learning. In such a view, even the behaviourists thinking and researches could not completely suppress the awareness that explanation of learning as divorced from knowledge was too simple and incomplete. It is generally believed that constructivist thinking originates from the work of Jean Piaget. Jean Piaget was neither a psychologist nor interested in teaching. He was a genetic epistemologist studying child development and psychological 111

124 structures underlying the formation of concepts. His experiments involved a series of problems that utilized his three children for finding solutions. From these experiments he invented a learning theory holding that human beings are capable of constructing knowledge by using mental or cognitive structures, which they are born with. This is considered to be the beginning of the constructivist theory of learning and the name constructivism comes from the concept of construction of knowledge. Another main contribution to the constructivist theory comes from a Russian psychologist and sociologist, Lev Vygotsky. While Piaget studied and focused on individual children, Vygotsky s emphasis was placed on how individuals learned within social settings. He came to a conclusion that learning involves negotiation of meanings and that the ability of an individual to construct knowledge increase when there is help from an expert. From the time of Piaget and Vygotsky, the constructivist theory has grown tremendously. It has to be noted that Piaget s studies on learning were motivated by his search within genetic epistemology to explain how learning comes about in relation to growth in age. Most of the other researchers coming thereafter were psychologists interested in explaining learning in order to suggest better ways of facilitating it; i.e. finding better ways of teaching. At this juncture therefore we need to first find the similar and different elements within constructivist theorists of learning. Researchers aligning themselves with constructivism came up with diverse findings and this has led to diverging ideas about learning. Green and Gredler (2002) group these divergences into four sub-ideologies. The first sub-ideology is within Piaget s line of reasoning, which explains learning from the individual s point of view. This view emphasises that learning involves reorganising one s thinking and is facilitated by cognitive conflict and experimentation through manipulation of objects. 112

125 The second sub-ideology is within Vygotsy s line of thinking. This emphasises learning as aiming at developing complex skills that will enhance the individual s ability to construct knowledge. This individual s potential to construct knowledge is enhanced by interaction with both the subject matter and with others, especially more knowledgeable ones in the society. The potential is also enhanced by conscious awareness and struggle to mastering own thinking. The third sub-ideology is social constructivism. Green and Gredler (2002) describe this variant as advancing the social aspect of learning further from Vygotsky s. It emphasizes knowledge as socially constructed, and that learning takes place within communities of practice. In this view, learning is not confined to individual s mind but distributed among participants in the community of learning. In the school situation, these communities of learning include small groups and whole classes. In the classroom, the teacher and students belong to the community of learning and both are therefore learners. The fourth sub-ideology is holistic constructivism. In this variant, Green and Gredler (2002) advocate that learning is best facilitated when it begins with the whole and then move to its parts. In language teaching for example; it is necessary to begin from the context of use before looking at particular units or language structures. This in their view is because students are motivated when they begin by understanding where they might use the language before they learn particular units or skills. The concern in this view is to propose the best way of conducting learning activities in a constructivist classroom. Holistic constructivism emphasises on students ownership of both the process and outcome of their learning as well. Despite all the outlined differences, the constructivist theory has two major things in common. First and foremost, the basic idea originates from Piaget s studies which lead to all constructivists agreeing that learners do not learn by 113

126 passively receiving ready-made information - transmitted to them from others, but they actively construct their own knowledge. As we can see from the outline of sub-ideologies presented above, the basic difference is not what learning is but on how best to facilitate this kind of learning, i.e. active construction of knowledge. The second similarity is about all constructivists agreeing on the necessity to change the ways of classroom teaching. Constructivists agree that in order to facilitate learning in the light of current understanding, curriculum emphases, classroom interaction, and classroom dynamics must change in major ways (Green and Gredler, 2002:54). This is true because constructivist understanding about learning departs a lot from behaviourism, whereas conventional curricular, classroom interactions, methods and dynamics are all based on behaviourist paradigm. So, facilitation of constructivist learning requires changing all texts and practices THE CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY AND ITS INFLUENCE ON TEACHING The constructivist theory as developed by Piaget, Vygotsky and later improved by Vosniadou and Halldien as conceptual change, explains learning as active construction of knowledge. In this theory, Piaget explains that the individual constructs knowledge by using mental or cognitive structures, which are the result of experience and interaction with his/her environment. His theory is usually referred to as cognitive constructivism. Piaget s theory focuses on the individual learner but we all know that humans are social beings. Therefore, the theory was further developed by Vygotsky who emphasized the importance of the social aspect in learning hence social constructivism. Human beings live in a very rich environment, which is full of objects and experiences. The human brain is continuously transforming our perceptions (what we see, hear, feel etc.) into concepts - words and ideas or processing information about different phenomena around him or her. Fisher (1990) defines concepts as the labels that 114

127 we give to ideas, which may be simple or complex. Concepts group certain facts together to make distinctions and relationships between things. Basing on these ideas, the aspect of conceptual change was developed. According to this theory, Joyce and Weil 1996 suggest that, the teacher s tasks are to: Differentiate the children according to their levels of development. This is very important because the learners conceptual level is greatly influenced by his perception of the world around him/her. Therefore the understanding of a concept can vary greatly from one child to the other. For example a child of three years concept of a goat may include all the animals, which look like a goat such as a goat, a dog, a sheep and even a calf. But an older child s concept of a goat may be different because he/she has learnt how to discriminate, find similarities etc. Creating an environment that is matched to the complexity of the learner. Identify the optimal environments for growth in personality. Adopt methods, which will help the learner develop thinking skills so that they can be independent, versatile and productive in developing and linking various concepts. Examples of such methods include concept/semantic/knowledge/mind maps. The ideas of this theory form the base of the current paradigm in educational thinking and practice. The constructivist approach to learning enhances thinking among the learners. It also makes the learner be actively involved in the learning process. The learner also gets the opportunity to link what he/she knows with new knowledge hence making learning meaningful and relevant to life situations. The role of the teacher therefore is: To facilitate learning. Instead of the teacher being the knowledge provider, he/she assumes the role of a facilitator of learning. He therefore involves the learner in the learning process by designing learning tasks, which will make them get involved actively and cooperate with each other in learning. In teaching, the teacher will start with learners prior knowledge, and then use different participatory and cooperative methods in developing the new 115

128 knowledge. Some of these methods include think-pair-share, questions and answers, jigsaw, gallery walk, role-play, value clarification, experiments, field surveys and many others. Lovitt (1977) as cited by Mercer and Mercer (1989) recommends active involvement of the learners in activities like games, etc. To discover the kind of environmental variables which affect behaviour and in which ways. The task of educators therefore is to translate that knowledge to design instructional materials and interactions that encourage productive learning and to avoid environmental variables that discourage it. To help the learners develop various basic skills. Apart from constructing knowledge, constructivist approach to learning helps the learners develop various skills. Some of these skills include thinking skills, communication skills, creativity, social skills, reflection skills, decision-making skills and literacy and numeracy skills STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY Looking at the constructivist approach to learning, you will realize that it goes beyond observable behaviour. In applying the constructivist thinking to learning, the teacher takes into consideration the cognitive, social and conceptual aspects of learning. The constructivist approach to learning is very useful in teaching because: Learners of all levels can use it. In so doing, it will enhance thinking among the learners. According to Joyce and Weil (1996), the adoption of concept attainment model in teaching can be used as an evaluation tool in determining whether basic or important concepts have been mastered. It is a good indicator of deep understanding. 116

129 Learning becomes meaningful to learners and can be applied to real life situations. The learner is able to apply knowledge gained in other situations in the classroom and in practical life. Also, the learner can make sense of what he sees or experiences around him/her. The learner assumes ownership of what he learns and responsibility of his own learning. Talking about ownership of knowledge, Fisher (1995) notes, we make knowledge our own by constructing it through some creative operation of the mind. This is made possible when the teacher uses constructivist approach to learning. In constructivism, the learner is fully committed and actively engaged in the learning process. Unlike behaviourist theory, in constructivist learning, the learners are intrinsically motivated. Therefore it caters for Maslow s (1954) higher psychological needs of the individual. Constructivist thinking takes care of both knowledge and behavior. In learning, the inner experience of the learner has to be connected to the observable realm. When the learner develops mental maps about different situations, he/she can make use of it when he/she is faced with a different situation. SUMMARY In this lecture we dealt with how theory has evolved. We discussed various ways of defining a theory, these are such as: the theory can be expressed in terms of practice and in terms of a way of explaining a certain phenomena. We also discussed four eras of theory development as classical era, bahavioural era, Piaget s era and constructivist era which is a very recent paradigm. Each of these eras involves various philosophers who have contributed their ideas in teaching phenomena. The influence of constructivist theory has also been discussed. The ideas of this theory are the ones that formed the base of the current paradigm in educational 117

130 thinking and practice. The lecture ended by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the constructivist theory. EXERCISES 1. What are the main qualities you think teachers need to have so that they can cope with the new developments? 2. How can such teachers be developed? REFERENCES 3. Write your notes and discuss them with your colleagues. As you discuss, improve the notes for further use. Elkind, D. (Ed) (1980). Jean Piaget: Six Psychological Studies. Sussex: The Harvest Press. Green, S. K. and Gredler, M. E. (2002). A review and analysis of constructivism for school-based practice, in School Psychology Review, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp Kim, Hye-Kyung (2003). Critical thinking, learning and Confucius: A positive assessment in Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp Mtana, N., Mtavangu, A. and Kauky, A. (Eds.) (2003). Ufundishaji Unaozingatia Ujenzi wa Maana. Morogoro: Morogoro Teachers College. Philips, D. C. and Soltis, J. F. (1998). Perspectives on Learning, 3 rd edition. New York: Teachers College Press. Wood, D. (1998). How Children Think and Learn, 2 nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell. Fisher, R. (1990/1995). Teaching Children How to Think. Oxford: Blackwell (1990), London: Simon and Schuster (1992), Stanley Thornes (1995). Also published in Arabic, Hebrew, Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Estonian, Latvian, and Persian. 118

131 Joyce, B. R. and Weil, M. (1996). Models of Teaching. Needham Heights, M. A: Allyn and Bacon. 119

132 LECTURE ELEVEN LEARNING IN COGNITIVE THEORIES 11.1 INTRODUCTION From evolution of the learning theory as presented in the preceding lecture, it is obvious that understanding of learning changes with time and contexts. Conventional explanations and understanding increasingly relate learning to cognitive processes and structures than it formerly was! It was also noted that changes in the understanding of learning impacts the understanding of teaching. In this lecture we look more closely at the conventional explanation and understanding of learning, and how they can improve teaching. LECTURE OBJECTIVES By going through the lecture you should be able to: (i) Express a deeper and broader understanding of how learning is explained in novel theories focusing on cognition and related structures and processes; (ii) Use the understanding to analyze classroom practices at different levels of education and schooling; (iii) Identify and suggest strategies for improved teaching and teacher training PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTIVISM As we read in the previous lecture, constructivism grew from several subideologies. Piaget s sub-ideology, understanding human beings as capable of constructing knowledge through schemata or the cognitive structures which they are born with, is the one known as psychological constructivism. Here, focus is on the individual s mind rather than on society. It is on the human mind and how it functions to develop knowledge. Learning is explained in 120

133 relation to the schemata which is a representation of reality in human mind. Reality in this sense refers to what exists in the physical and social world. A schema is a map, diagram or representation of something, so learning in Piaget s terms is absorbing new information from the physical and social world and adding it in the map already existing in the mind. The process of taking in the new information and adding it or mapping it to the existing cognitive structure or schema is referred to as construction. This is what defining learning as construction of knowledge means. Thus, psychological constructivism seeks to explain how knowledge construction takes place. In this explanation, a child is born with schemata which develop as he or she grows. As such, learning takes place with maturation. The key concepts in explaining learning as construction of knowledge are equilibration, assimilation, and accommodation. Equilibration is a term that was used by Piaget (in Elkind, 1980) to explain the different states of the human mind during the process of learning. Literally, equilibrium refers to balance, symmetry, or stability in a given process. Thus in learning, equilibrium denotes a learning process which is at balance, symmetry, or stability. Although in some situations this would entail a state of rest, Piaget argues it is not the case in learning because there is no time when the state is at total rest. The state would only reach a state of balance at a certain time. What then is this state of balance? The cognitive structures are in the human mind or brain. All the time, the mind is exposed to information from the physical and social world. This information intrudes the mind all the time. But the mind always has activities (i.e. some thinking) going on. When these activities of the mind are going on in such a way that they counterbalance with intrusions, is when Piaget says there is a state of equilibrium. This means that at such a time, which is rare when we think of how we think; no new information is taken in since there are enough activities in the mind to counterbalance the intrusion. Such a state is not 121

134 permanent nor is it static. Thus, Piaget uses the term equilibration to show this kind of continuous process. The process will be clearer when we go through the next section on assimilation and accommodation.? 1. In science or any other field of your knowledge, what does the term equilibrium mean? Can you give examples of situations where there is this state of equilibrium? 2. What is your understanding of the concepts assimilation and accommodation? You can use the dictionary as reference ASSIMILATION AND ACCOMMODATION Learning is a continuous process and it is not easy to count its phases in the actual sense. But for the sake of analysis let us say it begins at a state of conflict or disequilibrium. This conflict is between what is already in the mind schema (i.e. existing cognitive structure) and the new information that the brain comes in contact with from the physical and social world. New information here means unfamiliar object, sound, smell, or anything that can come through the five senses. At the point of conflict, the brain gets to work in order to scrutinise the new information, comparing and contrasting it with what already exists in the cognitive structures. We know that at this time of scrutinising, children or even adults apply different strategies to find more data about this new information. Sometimes the data is collected by asking questions to other people. When enough data has been obtained, the new information is taken and included at the existing structure. The process of taking in the new information is known as assimilation. To assimilate is to incorporate, to absorb, or to take aboard. In the language of learning, to assimilate is to understand. Taking in new information broadens the cognitive structures. It demands that the existing form of the structure changes in order to give room to the new information. Reorganising the cognitive structures after assimilating new 122

135 information is called accommodation. If we take an example from actual learning situations, a child who gets a new understanding that a bat is a mammal and not a bird may have to also change his or her earlier principles. One principle that has to change is that not only birds can fly but also some mammals do fly. This is a change in the form of existing cognitive structures and thus, an example of accommodation. When assimilation and accommodation have taken place, a state of equilibrium is reached again. But as Piaget explains, the system becomes more open for new information and thus, for a new disequilibrium. And learning involves successive phases of disequilibrium, assimilation, accommodation and equilibrium.? 1. Can you explain in your own words the meaning of the terms equilibrium/disequilibrium, assimilation, and accommodation? 2. How can you facilitate this process in a classroom situation? 11.4 REFLECTION This new explanation of what learning is, brings a drastic change in our understanding of learning. While behaviourism aimed at changing the learners behaviour through repetitions and rewards, the constructivist theory needs us to develop learners cognitive structures through facilitating cognitive conflicts (e.g. by exposing learners to new information) and facilitating the process of assimilation and accommodation. Learning demands a lot of activities that are organised to meet these new goals. It means that the new understanding demands a big change in the way we think and conduct our teaching activities. As teachers we need to ask ourselves questions such as: What are the most suitable activities to meet these new demands? That is, what are suitable activities to arouse cognitive conflicts, to facilitate assimilation, and to allow accommodation in our classrooms? We have to remember that every individual 123

136 has different cognitive structures because these are developed differently depending on individuals history. Thus, different learners and environments demand different ways of working. This demands us always to work as researchers; trying new ways and assessing their effectiveness and using these experiences to design and re-design our ways of teaching. But the most important question is how do teachers cope with such a change? 11.4 SOCIAL LEARNING THEORIES According to Mbunda (2006), social cognitive theory suggests that learning can be explained in terms of interaction between the person and the environment. He reiterates Bandura and Mitchel s Reciprocal Determinism that people are influenced by environmental forces during learning. In response to these influences, they choose how to behave and actively construct and influence these situations as well. They select situations and get shaped by them at the same time. In that process the human is an active learner and problem-solver and that he is also capable of profiting from enormous range of experiences and cognitive capacities. As such, social cognitive theory conceives learning as a function of understanding of various aspects of human behaviour and scientific rigour, i.e. concern about inner process of the individual as well as systematic observations. According to this theory, individual variations in learning may result from: Expectancies: Human beings make incredible discriminations among situations due to tremendous cognitive capacities. The most important future of a person lies in the differing ways in which they perceive situations and differing patterns that are established according to differing perceptions. Self-efficacy: This is individual perceived ability to cope with specific situations. Self-conception or self-control processes may vary between people, from time to time and from situation to situation. 124

137 11.5 THEORIES OF LEARNING AND VIEWS ON TEACHING We have seen in the previous parts of this lecture that from Piaget s time; a lot of research has been done to find out more about how learning takes place. From this research, suggestions are put forward on how best to facilitate learning. Along this line, Mbunda (2006) for example adopts Mayer s (1982) definition of learning that it is a relatively permanent change in a person s knowledge and or behaviour due to experience. He argues that such a definition acknowledges learning as understood from both cognitive and behaviourist theories. Whereas behaviourist theories focus on change in behaviour, cognitive theories focus on changes in knowledge (cognition). On the basis of this understanding of learning, Mbunda (2006) identifies three perspectives of teaching. First, teaching could be understood as transmission of information from the teacher to the student. In this understanding it is assumed that knowledge is there to be transmitted for a student to acquire. The student is also assumed to be a passive recipient. Secondly, teaching could be understood as a transaction between teacher, student, subject matter and environment. Here, the student participation and contribution are assumed to be essential for learning to be effective. In the third perspective, teaching is understood as transformation in the sense that it is to enable the learner use information, attitudes and skills acquired to change his or her view of reality, belief system and attitudes from one to another form. Research is on-going and suggestions keep emerging on how best should learning be facilitated, hence adjustments in the conduct of teaching. These suggestions are changing as more knowledge is obtained on what learning involves. The suggestions include making major changes in the curriculum, classroom dynamics, and classroom interaction. As such, more suggestions on understanding and execution of teaching and learning will continue to come from different scholars and practitioners. As student teachers you also have the 125

138 role of understanding what is going on so that we can adjust our practices accordingly. SUMMARY In this lecture we have discussed the growth of psychological constructivism. We saw that learning is defined as construction of knowledge in the sense that learning is absorbing new information from the physical and social world and adding it in the map which exists in the mind. Thus a child is born with schemata which grow as the child grows. The concepts of assimilation and accommodation have also been explained. Assimilation means the process of taking in new information while accommodation means reorganizing the cognitive structures. The lecture also highlighted something on social learning theories which suggests that learning can be explained in terms of interaction between a person and his/her environment. The lecture ended by identifying three perspectives of teaching which are transmission, transformation and transaction. EXERCISES 1. Analyse your own teaching or observe how your colleague teaches and say which theory informs the teaching 2. Suggest how it could be improved to adopt a constructivist explanation of learning 3. What could you do to enable your student teachers improve their teaching? Discuss this with your colleagues. REFERENCES Elkind, D. (Ed) (1980). Jean Piaget: Six Psychological Studies. Sussex: The Harvest Press. Green, S. K. and Gredler, M. E. (2002). A review and analysis of 126

139 constructivism for school-based practice, in School Psychology Review, Vol. 31, No. 1, pp Kim, Hye-Kyung (2003). Critical thinking, learning and Confucius: A positive assessment in Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 37, No. 1, pp Mtana, N., Mtavangu, A., and Kauky, A. (Eds.) (2003). Ufundishaji Unaozingatia Ujenzi wa Maana. Morogoro: Morogoro Teachers college Philips, D. C. and Soltis, J. F. (1998). Perspectives on Learning, 3 rd edition. New York: Teachers College Press. Wood, D. (1998). How Children Think and Learn, 2 nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell. 127

140 LECTURE TWELVE THE INFLUENCES OF LEARNING THEORIES ON TEACHING 12.1 INTRODUCTION I this lecture we are going to discuss how learning theories influence teaching. Models of teaching are going to be identified and discussed. The lecture will further discuss different kind of instructional materials that are used in day-today teaching as well as forces that direct teaching and learning in a given environment. LECTURE OBJECTIVES At the end of this lecture, you will be able to: (i) Identify various models of teaching (ii) Design your own model of teaching incorporating ideas from a number of sources and learning theories (iii) Make judgments on the selection and use of different kinds of instruction materials in enhancing teaching and learning (iv) Determine the force that can direct teaching and learning in a given environment (v) Contribute in terms of ideas and practices, some innovations applicable to teaching MODELS OF TEACHING A model of teaching refers to prescriptive teaching strategies which are designed to accomplish particular teaching goals. Models of teaching have three meanings as follows: (i) Teaching models are just instructional designs. They describe the process of specifying and producing particular environmental situations 128

141 which cause the student to interact in such a way that specific change occurs in his/her behaviour. (ii) A teaching model is a pattern or plan which can be used to shape a curriculum or course, to select instructional materials and to guide a teacher s actions. Models are designed to attain specific goals. When a teacher identifies a goal, selects a particular strategy designed to attain that goal, we can say that he/she is using model approach. (iii) A model of teaching consists of guidelines for designing educational activities and environments. It specifies ways of teaching and learning that are intended to attain certain kinds of goals. In the previous lecture, Mbunda (2006) described teaching as transmission, transaction or transformation. Like Joyce and Weil (op.cit) his description of teaching showed that its design depends on understanding of learning and the goal that it attempts to accomplish. According to Mbunda (op.cit) the job of the teacher is to analyze the situations confronting the learner during learning, as well as understanding the underlying principles involved in the process of learning. He concludes that a learning process consists of five basic cognitive operations acronymed SMART: Stimulating: A process which activates information that has been dormant in the memory, making it available or active. It activates prior knowledge which may help interpret new information that the learner deals with. Monitoring: A process that matches or compares items of information. Assembling: An operation which uses items of information that are active in working memory and creates a link between them. Assembling would create similarities (or differences) between previous and new information being learned to help understand them better. Rehearsing: This is a process which operates through maintenance of information in an active condition by mentally repeating it. As a result of repeated operations, information is learned. 129

142 Translating: This is a mental activity that decodes one item of information into another code or format. According to Mbunda (op.cit), the consequence of translating is a different view of the same information rather than production of new information. These cognitive operations are requirements for learning regardless of learners previous stocks of information. To the teacher, the knowledge of the processes serves as an aid for identifying the reasons why the delivery of instructions is sometimes ineffective, thus devising the mechanisms for improving it. In designing a plan for delivery of classroom instructions, the teacher also needs information about the physical environment. This determines the level of efficiency of cognitive operations, because it influences the occurrence of perception, assimilation and accommodation of information. Physical environment includes all the features surrounding the learner, e.g. the type of information, resources and quality of instructions because: Instructions are best facilitated when learners are confronted with meaningful learning tasks, i.e. they understand why certain tasks must be mastered and they see the relationships between them as well as improved knowledge in the field of study. Instructions are also facilitated well if they go with differences in growth of the learners as well as the time and motivation given for various subjects. Learners developmental aspects are different within and among individuals but all of them should be given chances to learn. Based on the foregoing considerations, different psychologists suggest a number of instructional models (Mbunda, 2006). For example Reese (1966) suggests a four-step procedure as follows: (i) Specification of the Final Performance, i.e. identifying the terminal behaviour and determining how it is going to be measured. 130

143 (ii) Determination of the Operant Level, i.e. a baseline that shows where to start, i.e. the entry characteristics of the learner that will serve as prerequisite for the final performances. (iii) Structuring a Favourable Situation, i.e. providing environment which is potential to making desired behaviours occur. Such environment should also inhibit the occurrence of competing behaviours. (iv) Establishing a Motivation, i.e. locating the desirable re-inforcers and withholding others which are likely to leading to incompatible behaviours. TAKE NOTE Learning takes place if there is something (information) to be learned. Prior information in the memory of the learner must be coupled with new information to be learned, thus providing cues to arouse the cognitive operations. In the process the physical environment facilitates learning by providing necessary cues as well, that help the learner to perceive, assimilate and accommodate information. Teaching will be effective if it considers this transition as well! Along this and similar understandings of the learning process, the teaching models are designed. The models by Bruner, Ausubel and Gagne (Mbunda, 2006) are the cases in point BRUNER S DISCOVERY LEARNING MODEL Discovery learning is a method of inquiry-based instruction and is considered a constructivist based approach. Jerome Bruner is often credited as originator of discovery learning in the 1960s, although the ideas are very similar to those of earlier writers like John Dewey. The idea is that Practice in discovering for oneself teaches one to acquire information in a way that makes that information more readily viable in problem solving" (Bruner, 1961). The philosophy urges 131

144 for 'learning by doing'. A discovery learning task can range from implicit pattern detection, to the elicitation of explanations and working through manuals to conducting simulations. Discovery learning can occur whenever students are not provided with an exact answer but rather the materials in order to find the answer themselves. It takes place in a problem solving situation with the learner drawing on his own experience and prior knowledge. Students are only enabled to interact with their environment by exploring and manipulating objects, wrestling with questions and controversies, or performing experiments. The problem situations stimulate learners to discover essential information or fundamental frameworks of ideas of subject matter for themselves. The goal is to get students think, solve problems and discover things for themselves. According to Bruner (op.cit), learning in this model is inductive- by formulation of general principles based on knowledge of examples and details. The learners then work with examples until they discover the interrelationships, hence the subject matter. A model for a guided discovery lesson through the discussion approach would appear as follows: Step 1: Providing Objectives The teacher goes over the objectives for the discussion and gets the students ready to participate. Step 2: Focusing the Discussion The teacher provides a focus for discussion by describing the ground rules, asking an initial question, presenting a puzzling situation or describing the issue in discussion. Step 3: Holding the Discussion The teacher monitors the students interactions, asks questions, listens to students ideas, enforces the ground rules, keeps records of the discussion and expresses his own ideas. Step 4: Ending the Discussion The teacher helps bring the discussion to a close by summarizing or expressing the meaning the discussion has had for him or her. 132

145 Step 5: Debriefing the Discussion The teacher asks students to revisit their discussion and thinking processes to ascertain their curiosity and construct own theories of knowledge about the issues they have discussed. However, research conducted over years, for examples by Mayer (2001) and Kirschner, Sweller and Clark (2006) have somehow proved the unfavorable effects of discovery learning, specifically with beginning learners. Beginning learners do not have the necessary skills to integrate the new with prior information. The findings suggested that a better alternative to discovery learning was a guided instruction. Guided instructions produced more immediate recall of facts than unguided approaches, along with longer term transfer and problem-solving skills. Enhanced discovery learning is recommended as a modification that involves preparing the learner for the discovery learning by providing the necessary knowledge needed to successfully complete the task. In this approach, the teacher does not only provide the necessary knowledge required to complete the task, but also provides assistance during the task. This preparation of the learner and assistance may require some direct instruction. In this modification, the learners are also allowed to generate ideas about a topic along the way and then explain their thinking. A student might come up to the front of the room to work through the first problem, sharing his or her thinking out loud. The teacher might question students and help them formulate their thinking into general guidelines for estimation. As others come to the front of the room to work their way through problems out loud, students can generate and test more rules AUSUBEL S PRESENTATION MODEL OF TEACHING Whereas Bruner believed effective learning was by discovery, Ausubel maintained that people acquired knowledge by reception rather than discovery. David Ausubel theorized that people acquired knowledge primarily by being exposed directly to it rather than through discovery. In other words, he believed 133

146 that understanding of concepts, principles, and ideas is achieved through deductive reasoning, i.e. from general to specific, from the rule or principle to examples. This brought him to the idea of meaningful learning (as opposed to rote memorization), on the basis that the most important single factor influencing learning was what the learner already knows. The role of the teacher therefore, is to ascertain the prior knowledge of the learner and teach him accordingly. From this belief of meaningful learning, he developed the theory of advance organizers. Advance organizers are information presented by the teacher that helps the student to organize new incoming information. This is achieved by directing attention to what is important in the coming material, highlighting relationships, and providing a reminder about relevant prior knowledge. They are helpful in the way that they help the process of learning when difficult and complex materials are introduced. This is satisfied through two conditions: (i) The student must process and understand the information presented in the organizer; this increases the effectiveness of the organizer itself. (ii) The organizer must indicate the relations among the basic concepts and terms that will be used. The theory of advance organizers fall into two categories: comparative and expository. Whereas the main goal of comparative organizers is to activate existing schemas, expository organizers provide new knowledge that students will need to understand the upcoming information. Comparative organizers are reminders which bring into the working memory what the learner might have not realized as relevant. As reminders, they point out explicitly the relevance of already established anchoring ideas to the new material about to be learnt. They both integrate as well as discriminate new ideas with basically similar concepts in cognitive structure. Expository organizers on the other hand provide new knowledge that the learner would need to understand the upcoming 134

147 information. They are often used when the new learning material is unfamiliar to the learner, relating what the learner already knows with the new and unfamiliar material. Thus, they aim to make the unfamiliar material more plausible to the learner. Mbunda (2006) summarizes Ausubel s Presentation Model of teaching in four steps: Step 1: Presentation of Objectives and establishing the setting The teacher goes over the objectives of the lesson and gets the students ready to learn. Step 2: Presentation of Advance Organizer The teacher presents the advance organizer; making sure it provides a framework for later learning and is connected with students prior knowledge. Step 3: Presentation of the learning material The teacher presents the learning (new) materials; paying special attention to logical ordering and meaningfulness to learners. Step 4: Extension and Strengthening of Students Thinking The teacher asks questions and elicits the learners responses to the presentation, to extend students thinking and encouraging precise and critical thinking. However, there are criticisms against the theory of advance organizers. One is that their definition and construction are vague and, therefore different researchers have varying concepts of what they are and can only rely on intuition in constructing them, since the criteria for their construction are specified nowhere. In a response to this criticism, Ausubel defends advance organizers by stating that there is no one specific example in constructing advance organizers because they always depend on the nature of the learning material, the age of the learner, and degree of prior familiarity with the learning passage (Ausubel, 1978). Secondly, there is a criticism arising from comparing advance organizers with overviews. Ausubel (1978:252) addresses the issue in that advance organizers differ from overviews in being relatable to presumed 135

148 ideational content in the learner s current cognitive structure. Thirdly, critics also address the notion of advance organizers on whether they are intended to favour high ability or low ability students. However, Ausubel (1978:255) notes that advance organizers are designed to favour meaningful learning. Therefore, it is not intended in this theory to address the low or high ability of the learners but bridging a gap between what they already know and what they are about to learn GAGNE S INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN MODEL Robert Gagne created a nine-step process called the events of instruction. These are related to the learning process, leading to various learning outcomes. They support the internal processes of learning whereby the concern is more in the quality, performance and usefulness of students learning. The nine events of instruction in Gagne s model include gaining attention, informing the learner about objectives, stimulating recall of prior learning, presentation of stimulus, providing guidance, eliciting performance, providing feedback, assessing performance and enhancing retention and transfer. The learning and instructional events can be summarized as follows: Table 12.1: The Nine Events of Instruction in Gagne s Model Learning Process Instructional (Teaching) Events Attention - Capture the attention of the learners (animated tutorial) - Provide stimuli that ensure reception of coming instruction. Inform the learner about - List the learning objectives and expectations objectives/ Expectancy of learning, i.e. what the learner will be able to perform after the instruction. - Motivates the learners to complete the lesson. Retrieval to working memory/ - Recall of existing, relevant knowledge 136

149 Recall of prior learning - Retrieval to working, short-term memory - Previous experience and concepts - Correlation of new information with prior knowledge Presentation of Stimulus - Presenting the stimulus material (new Material/ Selective Perception information) - Pattern recognition; selective perception - New content (chunked, explained, then demonstrated) - Multimedia (audio, video, graphics etc.) Learner Guidance/ Encoding - Guidance on the new content - Chunking, rehearsal, encoding - Assist learners in order to encode information for long-term storage. Eliciting Performance/Responding Provide Feedback Assess Performance Enhance Retention and Transfer - Practice (new skills or behavior) - Confirm correct understanding - Demonstrating learning - Retrieval/ responding/ Eliciting performance e.g. by answering questions, doing exercise etc. - Specific, immediate feedback on learner s performance - Reinforcement, error correction Rewards and Punishment. - Post-test; final assessment - No additional coaching; feedback - Mastery of material - Determine whether or not the skills were learned - Apply the skills that were learned 137

150 - Retention, retrieval, generalization EXERCISES 1. With reference to the SMART mental operations as features of the learning process, how would you categorize the nine steps in the learning process by Gagne. 2. Analyse the teaching model by Brunner, Ausubel and Gagne and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each model. 3. Attempt to design your own model of teaching 12.6 TEACHING AS IMPARTING VIS-À-VIS EMPOWERMENT OF LEARNERS Let us now remind ourselves about the different meanings of teaching as viewed by Mbunda (2006). According to him, teaching is transmittal if it ignores the active participation of the learner, assuming that knowledge is always available to be passed on from teacher to passive student. This process is referred to as transactional if it allows interaction between the teacher, student, subject matter and environment. Yet, teaching is transformational if it is there to enable learners use of information, attitudes and skills acquired to change from one form to another in terms of their views of reality, belief systems and or attitudes. It is important to note at this stage, that the purpose of teaching is to increase the learners capacity to learn. As such, the usefulness of a model of teaching requires being assessed by the extent it increases the capacity of the learner to actively participate and contribute to the process. Learner empowerment as a concept involves ideas such as enabling, facilitating, helping students or learners to become self-reliant and become 138

151 responsible for their own learning. Cummins (1996: 59-70) in his description of learner empowerment argues that it uses collaborative critical inquiry to enable students to relate curriculum content to their individual and collective experience and to analyze broader social issues relevant to their lives. He further argues that contemporary orientations to pedagogy differ in the extent to which the teacher retains exclusive control over classroom interactions as opposed to sharing some of this control with students. Teaching is dominated by traditional banking model characterized by imparting of knowledge: Teachers are expected to deposit information and skills in students memory banks. Teachers initiate and control interactions. Instructions emphasize recall of content taught. Students are silenced and rendered voiceless in the classroom situation. Cummins derives a conclusion that the consequence of such imparting teaching implies disinformation in the information age which is similar to disempowering the learners. On empowering the learners, Fisher (1995) argues for teaching which addresses both what and how to learn. It must enable learners to become effective thinkers; equipping them with life-long learning and thinking skills necessary for acquisition and processing of information in an ever-changing world. Learner empowerment involves enabling learners to become self-reliant and responsible for their own learning. Skills such as creativity, thinking, reasoning and problem solving are therefore inevitable. As such, the choice of model is important for the teacher during design of classroom instructions. Sometimes it is difficult for anyone s model to satisfy all requirements of teaching for learner empowerment. Teachers and students need to forge a relationship of respect and affirmation; for students feeling that they are welcome to the process, and supported to catch up academically. The students should also feel that their teacher believes 139

152 in them and expects them to succeed in the learning undertaking. This requires the teacher to redefine his or her role by: Creating instructional context in which learners can become active partners in the learning process. Viewing themselves as learners! In order to teach effectively, they must learn from their students about students culture, background, and experience. As such, Cummins (op.cit) summarizes the components of teaching for learner empowerment as including the following: Active communication of meaning. Cognitive challenge. Contextual support. Building students self-esteem. For these components to be achieved, the teaching process presupposes the use of learner s prior knowledge and engagement of the learner in self-assessment exercise. Learner s prior knowledge assist in the process of knowledge construction and meaning making, as we have seen in the models by Ausubel and Gagne. As such, the teacher has a role to elicit what students already know in order to also find out what they do not know, design relevant learning activities and set the learning environment that would engage students in the self-assessment. Self-assessment helps students to realize the misconceptions in their prior knowledge, the basis of which the teacher should guide the teaching and learning process that generates new knowledge applicable to the students lives (Fisher, op.cit). It further gives students an opportunity to reflect on their own progress toward instructional objectives, determine the learning strategies that are effective for them, and develop plans for future learning. With selfassessment, the teaching process is constructivist - allowing students to actively participate in deciding what and how much to learn, and setting the criteria by which their learning should be evaluated. This suggests that teaching for 140

153 learner empowerment seldom relies on anyone single model of teaching, but eclectic approach that picks relevant components from various models depending on the goal of a particular lesson. McTighe and Wiggins (2004) emphasize the importance of identifying a goal in design of instructions. In their Understanding by Design (UbD) framework for curriculum design, they introduce what they call backward design model of teaching. In backward design, the teacher starts with learning outcomes and then plans the instructions, choosing activities and materials that will help determine student ability and fostering student learning. They arrived into this approach because teachers traditionally started instructional planning with activities and textbooks instead of identifying classroom learning goals and planning towards that goal. In UbD generally and backward design in particular, teaching for understanding is another central premise. Teacher and student attitudes, as well as the classroom learning environment should be evident in the designing of instruction process. There should be coherent curriculum design and clear distinctions between big ideas and essential questions. Teachers should tell students about big ideas and essential questions, performance requirements, and evaluative criteria at the beginning of the unit or course. Students should be able to describe the goals (big ideas and essential questions) and performance requirements of the lesson, unit or course. The lesson plan in backward design would entail the phases as follows: (i) Establishing the goal - as related to a particular lesson. Here the teacher will want to identify the specific goal (or power standard) from the unit plan that is being addressed in this lesson. (ii) Technology Standards - as related to a particular lesson. Because the emphasis of this stage is the integration of technology you should identify which of the technology standard(s) is being met. (iii) Essential Questions - as related to a particular lesson. Essential questions are provocative and arguable and are designed to guide inquiry into the big ideas or topic being studied. The essential questions being included 141

154 here are topical. These questions are more subject and topic specific. These questions guide the examination of big ideas and processes within a particular topic or lesson within a unit. (iv) Desired Understandings - as related to a particular lesson. The understandings specify what we want students to come to understand about the big idea or topic that is being addressed in this particular lesson. (v) Key knowledge and skills that students should acquire - as a result of this lesson! These are the discrete objectives that we want students to know and be able to do after getting the lesson. (vi) Assessment of understandings and or goal - Here we want to obtain valid, reliable, credible, and useful evidence. There should be a tight alignment between the desired results we seek and the evidence we plan to collect. This phase of our planning should answer questions like: (a) Are students asked to exhibit their understanding through authentic performance tasks? (b) Are appropriate criteria used to judge student products and performance? (c) Are a variety of appropriate assessment formats provided as additional evidence of learning? (d) Are students encouraged to self-assess? (vii) The sequence of teaching and learning experiences that equips students to engage with, develop and demonstrate the desired understandings. How will technology be integrated/infused into the lesson? - This is the heart of the lesson planning. The teacher considers the instructional strategies and learning experiences needed to achieve the desired results (understand, know, and be able to do) as reflected in the assessment evidence to be gathered. She/he also identifies how technology will be used in the teaching and learning experiences. The activities are planned to develop the targeted understandings and the knowledge and skills identified, and to equip students for the performance tasks identified in the assessment phase of the planning. 142

155 (viii) Resources and materials available to assist in developing the student understanding - How will they be used? Here, various resources are identified; including the materials (equipment) needed to teach the lesson. SUMMARY In this lecture we defined a model of teaching as consisting of guidelines for designing educational activities and environments. Model of teaching is a plan that can also be utilized to shape courses of studies, to design instructional material and to guide instruction. Three models of teaching have been identified and discussed, these are Bruner s discovery learning model, Ausbel s presentation model of teaching and Gagne s instructional design model. We also discussed important cognitive operations which are to be included in a learning process these are stimulating, monitoring, assembling, rehearsing and translating. We also differentiated teaching as imparting (i.e. teaching involves only transmission of knowledge meaning that it ignores the active participation of a learner) vis-à-vis teaching as empowerment (i.e. involves enabling, facilitating, and helping students to become self-reliant and responsible for their own learning. The lecture ended by discussing the importance of identifying a goal in design of instruction. EXERCISES 1. Identify the type of relationships between teachers and students that exists in our classroom. 2. What are your own remarks on the existing nature of teacherstudent relationships? 3. What type of teacher-student relationships do you think would facilitate learner empowerment? 4. How do you think student s self-assessment can be achieved? 5. Basing on your own experience, discuss to what extent the teaching and learning practices achieve the goals of education 143

156 in Tanzania. 6. What are your remarks on the nature of classroom practice in relation to the goals of education in Tanzania? 7. Outline the main differences between teaching as imparting and teaching for learner empowerment. 8. Think of the lesson you once taught or observed; identify the elements of imparting it had, and suggest with examples how you think it can be improved to empower learners. REFERENCES Ausubel, D. P. (1960). The use of advance organizer in the learning and retention of meaningful verbal material. Journal of Educational Psychology, 51, Ausubel, D. (1963). The Psychology of Meaningful Verbal Learning. New York: Grune and Straton. Ausubel, D. (1978). In defence of advance organizers: A reply to the critics. Review of Education Research, 48, Bruner, J. S. (1961). The act of discovery in Harvard Educational Review, 31 (1): Elkin, D. (ed)(1980). Jean Piaget: Six Psychological Studies. The Harvest Press: Sussex. Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J. and Clark, R. E. (2006). Why minimal guidance during instruction does not work: an analysis of the failure of constructivist, discovery, problembased experiential, and enquiry-based teaching. Educational Psychologist 59 (1): Mayer, R. (2001). Should there be a three-strike rule against pure discovery learning? The case of guided methods of instruction. American Psychologist, 59 (1): Mbunda, F. L. (2006). Application of teaching and learning Theories. Dar es salaam: Open University of Tanzania. 144

157 McTighe, J. and Wiggins, G. (2004). Understanding by Design: Professional Development Workbook. Alexandria VA: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. LECTURE THIRTEEN TEACHING FOR MEANINGFUL LEARNING 13.1 INTRODUCTION This lecture discusses some of the changes taking place in teaching across the world. However, specific attention is given to Tanzania. It starts by providing a brief background and the motivation for the changes around the concept of learner-centred education; which is among major areas where significant changes in school teaching and learning are occurring. The lecture ends by presenting some of the challenges facing teachers and teaching in Tanzania and puts forward suggestions indicating that there is a need to integrate research based activities to enhance teaching and learning processes in our school systems. Finally, the lecture tackles the importance of improving teaching and learning by integration of out-of-school and in-school learning. LECTURE OBJECTIVES By the end of the lecture you are expected to be able to: (i) Explain at least four weaknesses of the traditional way of teaching: (ii) Identify and explain the current efforts to improve learning in Tanzania; (iii) Plan for teachers effective participation in improving teaching and learning in respect to current educational developments across the world; (iv) Explain and distinguish between out of school learning and in- school learning ; 145

158 (v) Account for the need to consider out of school knowledge while developing school based educational curricula BACKGROUND TO EFFORTS TO IMPROVE SCHOOLS-BASED TEACHING The need to improve teaching is motivated by several factors. One of these motivating factors is that research on learning has provided us with more advanced knowledge about what may be involved in learning. Such knowledge compels us to change the way we teach. Our traditional ways of teaching were informed by outdated theories of learning, which made the teacher the pivotal deliverer of knowledge. As we have seen in previous lectures, we now know that learning is not memorising information from textbooks. It is the active processing of new information and linking it to knowledge from everyday experiences. Teaching has to change in order to fit into the new knowledge about learning. We have to teach by using ways that allow learners to process information and link new knowledge to their daily experiences. The more knowledge we get about learning the more the need to change our ways of teaching. Secondly, the learners we are developing today are going to live in different environments that will need different kinds of knowledge. What learners learn today is expected to help them in their different life environments during their later lives. Several questions may be asked to guide the way we change our teaching. Among the questions are: Which knowledge can we help learners develop that will be useful to all learners in their different contexts? Do we know the different contexts from which our learners emerge from and in which they are going to live? How can we select relevant knowledge for our learners? In addition to the issue of future contexts of learners, there is the issue of knowledge explosion. Currently, there is so much information in all fields of life and consequently, it is difficult to select the information we need to teach 146

159 to our learners. The third motivating factor for improving teaching, thus, becomes our concern with the information age. Choosing what knowledge to impart to our learners has evolved into a complex process and need new approaches, new tools that will equip teachers with appropriate techniques of determining right choice of broad based technologically delivered information. Instead of imparting randomly selected information, the most logical way to teach is to develop skills, which will enable learners to search for relevant information and processing it for their own use. Instead of teaching by imparting knowledge, we have to teach by developing self-learning skills LEARNER-CENTRED EDUCATION This is the education that enables a learner to be efficient and effective to learn by him or herself. Instead of focusing on the teacher (i.e., being teachercentred) or the content for teaching (i.e., being content-centred) educators need to focus on the learner. It is the learner who has to develop the competencies to learn and to achieve this goal. He or she has to be at the centre of the learning process. One way of doing this is for the teacher to discuss with learners and together make decisions on what they consider to be relevant learning information. After, this process, the teacher can provide the learners with the sources from which such information can be retrieved and let them find, process, and display the information for use. In other words, in order to develop learners learning competencies, the teacher has to create an environment for enabling self-learning. He should assume a facilitative position, staying at the background while guiding the learning process at the same time. This is different from the traditional teaching where, for example, the teacher dominated the process by talking and writing on the chalkboard. Current efforts are directed at placing the learner at the centre of learning in order to develop his or her learning competencies and potentials. 147

160 13.4 WORLDWIDE EFFORT TOWARDS LEARNING-CENTRED EDUCATION Efforts to improve teaching are also learning-centred. The focus is on making sure that not just learning but high quality learning takes place. Learners self evaluation is given priority and is aimed at making the learners able to improve their own learning. Learners are developed in such a way that they critically reflect on and improve their own learning. While learning, the learners are guided to ask themselves critically reflective questions about what they learn, how the knowledge they learn is relevant to their needs, how they learn, and how they can improve their own learning. These reflective questions are important for developing learning competence and potentials for life-long learning skills. The efforts to improve teaching are world-wide. However, compared to less developed countries, the more technologically developed countries are ahead in discussing about new approaches to teaching as well as in applying the learner and learning-centred approaches CURRENT EFFORTS TO IMPROVE TEACHING IN TANZANIA Nyerere s concept of education for self-reliance has elements of learner-centred education. However, it was not interpreted by many towards this direction. Instead, it was interpreted as an effort to improve economic production in the school systems in the country. In Tanzania, current, efforts to emphasize the position of learners in schools and learning-centred teaching and learning approaches may be said to have started from the late 1990 s and early 2000 s. This was when some teacher educators started to discuss about the constructivist theory of learning and how it could be interpreted or understood within the Tanzanian education contexts. The main forum for such discussions was the tutors three months in-service course conducted by the Teacher Education Department in collaboration with 148

161 the Stockholm Institute of Education at Morogoro Teachers College. The course started in September The discussions were followed by in-school seminars for primary school teachers and some pilot teaching in primary schools. Parallel to the tutors in-service courses, workshops on learner-centred education have been going on in different areas in the country. These workshops, which have involved teacher educators and some primary school teachers, include the ones on participatory and cooperative learning, multigrade teaching methods, reading and writing for critical thinking, and inspirational mathematics THE CHALLENGES AHEAD IN TANZANIA If we want to really interpret the ideas about learner and learning-centred education to suit our context, we need to work on them on practical basis. We, probably, need to conduct pilot teaching using such research approaches as action research. This can be done by teacher educators who are experts on these research methodologies, in collaboration with the teachers in the field. The aim has to find out what works well and what needs re-interpretation. How, for example, can we employ collaborative learning approaches in existing classrooms with long rows of desks and overcrowded pupils? How can we engage learners to actively participate in critical thinking, to search and process relevant information within an environment that has scarce resources such as books and other learning technologies including computers and multimedia? And finally, how can we do all these without endangering our independence in developing autonomous curricula and related learning resources? 13.7 LINKING IN AND OUT-OF SCHOOL KNOWLEDGE Since learning takes place on both outside and inside the school, there is a need to reflect on and explore the nature of the two concepts. Usually, out of school learning is not given much thought in school based teaching and learning although research shows that out of school learning has effects on 149

162 school learning. It is therefore worthwhile to examine the nature of the two contexts of learning and explore how knowledge gained out of school may influence or reinforce school learning DECONTEXTUALISED SCHOOL KNOWLEDGE During the colonial era in Tanzania like other colonized countries, education was designed to serve the colonial masters. After independence (1961) most of the colonial school curricular were retained until 1967 when self-reliance philosophy was introduced with the goal of developing an education system suitable for the Tanzanian context (Ndunguru, 1976). Self-reliance philosophy was partially understood by most policy makers and implementers. To many people, self-reliance implied income-generating activities in schools instead of a change of attitude towards what we learn and how we apply what we learn in our own contexts. Consequently, many schools initiated self-reliance activities including shamba-work, carpentry, preparing and selling food items, needle work and art work. Self-reliance activities enabled schools to generate some income to complement government budgets for the schools, but they consumed a good portion of classroom time. Self-reliance activities were also not developed and designed in a way that they could meaningfully link what was learnt in the school with learners life after school. It should be understood, that while income generation was an important component of the philosophy of self-reliance in schools, this was not the main goal. Self-reliance was aimed at enabling learners and their teachers to be independent critical thinkers who were (are) capable of generating knowledge relevant to their needs as demanded by their specific environments. In this case self-reliance was to be a catalyst to innovations and development. Education for self-reliance challenged the colonial system of education, which was fundamentally teacher-centred, elitist in nature and in most cases, irrelevant to the learners and their communities. The colonial system of education was decontextualized since learner s role was, mostly, to receive knowledge as 150

163 presented by the teacher and to use and reproduce the same knowledge without questioning. On this basis, learners had no freedom to provide their own views, opinions or alternative conceptualization of the phenomena they learnt in school. EXERCISES List and explain at least three factors that were the causes of the provision of a de-contextualized school based knowledge during the colonial era and the period immediately after independence in Tanzania DECONTEXTUALISED SCHOOL KNOWLEDGE AND TEXT- BASED PRESCRIPTIONS In lecture twelve we indicated that students prior knowledge is an important factor in relation to how learners understand the concepts taught in school. However, experience shows that students prior knowledge is generally neglected in classroom teaching. In many classrooms, teachers do not link or relate students experiences outside the school with the official school curricula. This condition is reflected in Saljö s (1998) argument showing that, in formal schooling, textbooks are adopted as the most important forms of mediation and, as such, reading and writing are dominant school activities. According to Saljö (1998) reliance on written texts is the major teachinglearning media, it can be understood as de-contextualization of knowledge in which reading texts becomes the dominant form of the learning discourse. On the basis of heavy reliance on written texts, it is not surprising to find teachers who think that effective teaching is determined by strict adherence to instructions or prescriptions developed or designed by specialists or experts who write school textbooks. Palme et al. (1997) present findings from a study indicating teachers opinion on a science curriculum. The teachers are shown to express their need for more guidance in relation to the parts of the teachers guide, which require more 151

164 children s involvement in discovery learning. Further, the teachers in Palme et al. study wish for more prescriptive exercises in children s textbooks. The teachers, in the study, are shown as being reluctant to meet cognitive contexts with more encompassing ideas. Instead, they prefer what may be perceived as rote memorization because the instructions they favour do not positively consider exploring children s own knowledge. Such teaching and learning approach discourages teachers and learner s educational initiatives and makes them slaves to text-based educational prescriptions. Additionally, the existence of detailed explanations of knowledge during classroom instruction makes a difference to what counts as knowledge inquiry within cognitive thinking. Let us take an example of assigning an investigation work to students while all information to the investigation is found in a textbook and no attempt is made to link what is in the textbook and what happens in the actual lives of the learners. Investigation or research work designed in this fashion might lead into students failure to develop skills and the habit of reflecting on foggy situations. In such cases, the possibility of students suggesting alternatives gets highly limited because the students are obliged to give their answers according to prescribed facts as provided in their textbooks. Consequently, the children may fail to relate the lesson content to their lived experiences. In most decontexualized learning contexts, students are trained to compartmentalize or categorize knowledge into two uncoordinated classes of knowledge; one that is school-based and another one meant for use within out-side the school environments. ACTIVITY Show how you can link textbook knowledge with pupils experiences outside the school? Give examples from an actual subject of your choice to substantiate your arguments. 152

165 13.10 LEARNING OUTSIDE SCHOOL It may be evident to most people that there is much learning out-of-school before and during school age. For example, everyone learns to speak, question things, work, reason, etc., without formal teachers. For example, in a number of communities around Tanzania, young children have greater opportunities to observe adult activities. Children get the opportunity to observe family economic activities like hunting, weaving, tailoring, fishing, and farming. They sometimes get guidance from older people and peers. Rogoff (2003) contends that in many communities children begin to participate in family work at an early age. Rogoff found out that at 4-years, children from a farming community in East Africa spend about 35% of their time doing family chores. In their everyday lives the children learn what might be considered to be mature roles. In one of her findings, Mwakabungu (2004) shows that when children are exposed to questions that relate to everyday experiences, they have a lot of knowledge to talk about. This finding is substantiated by an example in her study showing that, a common characteristic of the answer given by children coming from charcoal making communities was on the role of air in the process of burning charcoal. The study shows that children accumulate knowledge from what they learn outside the formal education system. Knowledge gained out-of school varies on the basis of the socioeconomic environments around which children are exposed to. Their environments provide them with idea or worldviews, language, artefacts, etc., in forms of materials or tools with which they engage while developing their own knowledge and understanding of their world. Solomon (1998) points out that knowledge obtained in the life world domain does not cease to exist in favour of the more formal explanations taught in school. Instead, learning is the ability to identify and operate within different contexts or domains, which may originate from both formal and informal contexts. 153

166 Further, when it comes to the idea of the relevance of knowledge to individual learners, Caravita and Halldén (1994) proposes that the context in which a problem or question is embedded plays an important role on how the problem is interpreted and the particular explanations offered to sustain the interpretations offered. Some explanations may seem to be very natural in one context but not so in another context, that is, to the same individual, some explanations or interpretations can fit in one context and not in another. The reason for this may be the fact that new information is first acquired in restricted contexts and then applied to a broad variety of situations. Caravita and Halldén s idea may be useful for understanding the relationship between out-of and in-school knowledge. To illustrate Caravita and Halldén s idea we may use the example of charcoal production. The process of charcoal production may be regarded as economically beneficial to a learner whose family depends on charcoal production as their basic economic activity. The same process may, however, be taught as destructive in a school curriculum where issues of environmental destruction and air pollution are the focus of instruction. This implies that a teacher needs to understand learners out-ofschool contexts and knowledge in order to be effective in teaching certain forms of knowledge at school. EXERCISES 1. As a teacher, briefly, explain how, in the past, you valued your learners out of school knowledge. 2. If you were to teach now, briefly, show how you would integrate your learners out-of-school knowledge into your school-based teaching. You may use one or two examples to illustrate your arguments 154

167 13.11 POSSIBILITIES OF LINKING SCHOOL LEARNING AND OUT- OF-SCHOOL LEARNING Learner s social cultural world may have a strong influence on his or her concept formation. Learning takes place within an individual and he or she is the one who can decide which meaning of phenomena to use in a given situation or context (Halldên, 1999). There is a saying that for one to learn to become a blacksmith or a navigator, he or she has to be exposed to situations in which he or she gets familiar with these human practices (Aikenhead 1998). Solomon (1998) gives an example of children who found that while they learn different things at school, meanings of such things from their own culture and everyday life continued to intrude from every side. Taking Halldên s (1999) idea into perspective, we may realize that in order to contextualise teaching and learning, a teacher must identify aspects of the learners out-of-school experiences, which provide valuable resources for understanding basic concepts, metaphors and analogies to which the curriculum content can be related. The local environment with which the children are familiar, and from which the teacher and children can draw information and materials has to be part of the areas to be studied. In connection to this point, Mwakabungu (2004) suggests that teachers should explore existing preknowledge of the students on the basis of practical experiences. She propounds that children who make charcoal have repeated experience, which helps them to master different skills. They could be able to master the concept of ecology if their experiences could be used as a media for conceptualizing the respective part of the syllabus and classroom instruction. Mwakabungu tries to emphasize that teachers need to scrutinize the sub-topics within the subject matter as well as to structure them in a manner that brings out their interrelationships. Her argument in this is that children can be encouraged to relate the outside school setting, and provide a start to the means by which the process of learning becomes continuous and 155

168 interrelate. To achieve this, the teacher has to be knowledgeable enough to produce learning materials from his or her learners environment, so as to help the learners to see the school as relevant to their needs and that of their environment. The important thing here is that contextualized materials stimulate children and provide an opportunity for identifying student s preknowledge and using it as a basis for developing new knowledge. EXERCISES 1. On the basis that out-of-school learning occurs at home and in the community, explain how you would involve (a) parents (b) community members in your students school based learning. 2. Taking the experience of Tanzania s education for self reliance as an example, discuss three problems that teachers may encounter in trying to integrate out-of-school learning and school-based learning SUMMARY The lecture explained the background to efforts of improving school-based teaching and learner centred education. It also discussed on worldwide efforts and Tanzanian current efforts in improving teaching. It also highlighted some challenges facing Tanzania in improving learner centred teaching and learning. The concepts of decontextualization school knowledge and text- based prescriptions were also discussed. The possibilities of linking school learning and out of school learning were also discussed. REFERENCES 156

169 Hallden, O. (1999). Conceptual change and Contextualization. In W. Schnotz, M. Carratero &S. Vosniadou (eds), New Perspectives on Conceptual Change (pp ). Amsterdam: Pergamon, Elsevier. Caravita, S. & Hallden, O. (1994). Reframing the problem of Conceptual Change. Learning and Instruction, 4, SECTION FOUR STATISTICS AND EVALUATION IN EDUCATION Teachers spend a considerable amount of time setting and marking test and examinations. Many of them, however, fail to make adequate use of the test results because they lack knowledge of statistics. This section has been designed to help teachers to interpret test and examination scores and make sound educational decisions. SECTION OBJECTIVES After studying this section you will be able to: (i) Define and use common statistical terms and notations in teaching ad learning; (ii) Define and use frequency distribution tables in teaching and learning; (iii) Draw and interpret tables and graphs from educational statistical data; (iv) Select and compute the major measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion; (v) Use measures of correlation and regression appropriately; (vi) Recognize a normal distribution and its range of deviations. 157

170 Expected Learning Outcomes (i) Appropriate utilization of statistical terms and notations in education generally, and teaching and learning in particular. (ii) Appropriate utilization of statistical measurements to assess and evaluate the occurrence of teaching and learning. 158

171 LECTURE FOURTEEN STATISTICAL TERMS AND NOTATIONS 14.1 INTRODUCTION This lecture introduces you to the general field of statistics and the commonest terms and symbols which statisticians use. More details of these concepts and operations will be given in the subsequent lectures. LECTURE OBJECTIVES At the end of this lecture, you should be able to: (i) Identify and state the meaning of some common terms used in statistics; (ii) Define and differentiate among the four levels of measurement; (iii) Name and explain commonly used notations DEFINITION OF COMMON STATISTICAL TERMS Statistics is the science of collecting, summarizing and analyzing data obtained from the tests, experiments, survey, research questionnaires and interviews. It is also defined as the science of collecting, summarizing and interpreting data (Bennett and Ttednelson, 2001). The main purpose of statistics is: To describe the data/observations; To condense/summarize information; To draw conclusions about the properties of the population under study; It helps a teacher to interpret scores; It helps us to compute various statistics and interpret statistical results. 159

172 Branches of Statistics Statistics is divided into two major areas, descriptive and inferential statistics. (i) Descriptive Statistics This is a branch of statistics that deals with description, classification and presentation of data by using various statistical methods such as means, ratios, proportions or pictorial such as tables and graphs. That is, data are described either numerically or pictorially. Examples include: (a) Calculating measures of central tendency such as mean/average, mode and median; (b) Calculating measures of dispersion/variability such as range, variance and standard deviation; (c) Drawing graphs such as bar graphs, histograms, pie charts, or give frequency polygon to represent frequency distribution. Letters a & b above indicate numerical representation of data while letter c indicates pictorial representation of data. In other words descriptive statistics is defined as a science of describing data. Figure 14.1: Descriptive Statistics (ii) Inferential Statistics 160

173 This is a branch of statistics which deals with analysis and interpretation of data by hypothesis testing for the purpose of making rational scientific conclusions about the phenomena being investigated. In other words, it helps in drawing conclusions from the data and defining subsequent action to be taken. That is, it is used to infer or make inference about our population. Inferential statistics is also defined as the science of interpreting data in order to make predictions. Statistical inference may be further classified into the general areas of: Estimation of population parameters and; Hypothesis testing. Figure 14.2: Inferential Statistics Statistic This is a calculated, estimated or derived numerical value or quantity, e.g. mean, standard deviation, variance, etc. Statistics represents or describes the properties or characteristics of a sample. Statistics are denoted with English letters e.g., X - bar for mean, S for variance and S.D for standard deviation. 161

174 Statistical Methods Statistical methods are ways or means of processing data to extract their full significance, e.g. mean, median and mode are alternative methods of obtaining a measure of central tendency Population Population is any hypothetical or finite collection of observation units or is the entire group in which the researcher is interested in making observation/ investigation. This means it encompasses all observations about which we wish to draw conclusions and not necessarily a collection of living organisms Sample A sample is a relatively small number of observations from the population being investigated. That is, a subset of a population used for practical purposes. A sample is generally selected to be representative of the population in the variable under study. It helps to draw conclusion about the entire population. The work of drawing conclusion is done through the use of inferential statistics Sample Size Sample size is the number of observations or measurements in a single sample Parameters A parameter represents or describes the properties or characteristics of a population. Parameters are denoted by Greek letters e.g., µ for mean and σ (sigma) for standard deviation Variables A variable is anything which can take different values. It is also defined as the entity that is being measured e.g., age, height, length, intelligence, attitude, performance, weight, blood pressure, etc. 162

175 Classification of Variables Variables are discrete or continuous, independent or dependent. Discrete variables take only finite or whole numbers, e.g. integers only (1, 2, 3, 4) as in sex, cars, children, etc. Discrete variables are also known as discontinuous variables. On the other hand there are continuous variables which take any value including decimals, as in height, age, weight, etc. These can take values such as 1.5 metre, 0.25 years or kilograms. Independent variables (I.V) are those being calculated or manipulated by the researcher, whereas dependent variables (D.V) are those affected by independent variables. For example in a topic such as The effect of motivation on students performance in statistics, performance is a dependent variable and motivation is an independent variable Levels or Scales of Measurement Variables are further classified according to their scales of measurement. Scale of measurement shows the rules used to assign a particular number. There are four scales of measurement; namely nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio scales. (i) Nominal Scale Under this scale a variable is classified by some quality or attribute or categories. Numbers are used to distinguish one group from another. This scale is characterized by unordered categories. That is there is no ordering. For example, gender has only two categories: male and female. Colours can be green, red, blue and yellow; religion can be Muslim or Christian. (ii) Ordinal Scale Under this scale variables/data/observations are put in order from the lowest to the highest or from the highest to the lowest but there is no constant interval between them. That is, data are ranked. The carat ( ) is used to indicate the order that is, greater than ( ) or less than ( ). Examples are student scores when ranked from the first to the last, social economic status (high, moderate and lower), and student grades: A, B, C, D, E, F; administrative positions at 163

176 school level (Head teachers Deputy Head-teachers Senior teachers Teachers). (iii) Interval Scale The data or variables on this scale have the following characteristics: Numbers or variables are ordered. There is constant interval size between two successive units (that is when the distance/difference between one interval and another is known). This is the distinguishing characteristic of this scale. The zero point and unit of measurement are arbitrary. That is, it does not have a true zero point. Therefore ratio of measurement does not have meaning. You can do addition and subtraction. Examples are temperature scale, scores when put into intervals: 5 10, (iv) Ratio Scale It possesses the characteristics of the other three already mentioned scales: Data are ordered, Constant interval between two successive units, It has a meaningful zero point as its origin. That is it has a true zero point (this is its distinguishing characteristic), Ratios are meaningful, You can do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Examples of ratio scales are measures of length and or weight Notations Statistics make use of mathematics and thus utilizes algebraic notations as expressions for its elements and methodology. Some of those notations are: X, which stands for variable like age, height; X i = a subscripted variable; N or n = a constant that represent number of observations; and = summation. 164

177 EXERCISES 1. State the meaning of the following terms: statistics, statistic, variable, independent variable, continuous variable, descriptive statistics and parameter. 2. Indentify the scale of measurement used in statistics. Describe the characteristics of each scale. 3. Compare and contrast between ordinal scale and interval scale. 4. Is there any need for a teacher to study educational statistics? Explain. SUMMARY In this lecture we have introduced you about the general meaning of statistics and other statistical terms. The two branches of statistics; descriptive and inferential statistics have been discussed. The reasons of studying this course are also discussed. Apart from that, the four scales or levels of measurements and their characteristics are discussed. They include nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio scale. The last part of this lecture discusses about the symbols/notations used in statistics. REFERENCES Bennett, A. B. and Nelson, T. L. (2001). Mathematics for Elementary Teachers. A Conceptual Approach, 5 th Edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc Bowerman, B. L. and O connel, R. T. (1997). Applied Statistics: Improving Business Processes. Chicago: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Clarke, G. M. and Cooke, D. (1983). A Basic Course in Statistics, 2 nd Edition. London: Edward Arnold (Publishers) Ltd. Croft, D. (1976). Applied Statistics for the Management Studies, 2 nd Edition. Estover: Macdonald & Evans LTD. 165

178 Fogiel, M. (1993). The Statistics Problem Solvers: A complete Guide to any Textbook. Piscatway: Research and Education Association. Ormell, C. P. (1968). An Introduction to Probability and Statistics with Teachers Guide. Tweeddale Court: Oliver and Boyd LTD. LECTURE FIFTEEN FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION AND GRAPHICAL DATA PRESENTATION 15.1 INTRODUCTION This lecture introduces you to the ways used for data organization (compilation) by using frequency distribution and data presentation through graphs drawn from frequency distribution tables. LECTURE OBJECTIVES At the end of this lecture, you should be able to: (i) Define a frequency distribution (ungrouped and grouped data); (ii) Summarise data using tabular and/or graphical methods; (iii) Interpret and evaluate tables and graphs RAW SCORES When you do an experiment, a test or an examination you collect raw data or raw scores! What are raw scores? These are scores collected before being transformed into standard scores. A raw score is also defined as a number of items answered correctly or sum of marks in a series of essay questions. The raw score/data without reference to any other score has no meaning and is of little significance. Therefore this score has to be summarised in such a way that it is easy for someone else to get an information/meaning from it. Such an arrangement/organisation of scores is called a frequency distribution. We use 166

179 capital X to represent raw scores. Sometimes a letter Y is used in case of two variables. Capital N is used to indicate the number of observations Frequency Frequency refers to the number of occurrences of certain events or is the number of times a particular score occurs/is observed. It is represented by the symbol f Frequency Distribution Frequency distribution refers to a summarised presentation of data which shows a number of times that each value of a variable was observed. This can be shown by either a table or a graph Frequency Distribution Table (FDT) Frequency distribution table summarises data showing scores by frequency for each score. There are two types of frequency distribution: Simple frequency distribution also called ungrouped data frequency distribution Grouped data frequency distribution (i) Simple Frequency Distribution Simple frequency distribution is the one whereby frequencies for each value of variable are shown separately. For example; consider the following scores in mathematics test for 40 students: 24, 36, 42, 50, 66, 74, 22, 56, 62, 72, 52, 56, 60, 56, 48, 38, 22, 26, 44, 58, 64, 70, 44, 39, 42, 50, 56, 78, 54, 60, 76, 64, 66, 73, 52, 58, 66, 68,

180 The data above can be summarised in a frequency distribution by first ordering the scores from the lowest to the highest or from the highest to the lowest as shown in Table This arrangement is termed as a rank distribution. After ranking the data the next step is to group the individual scores which made the same score by tallying. According to Table 2.1 there are 2 individuals who scored 22 and 4 students who scored 56. Table 15.1: Frequency Distribution of Mathematics Scores for 40 Students Score (x) Tally Frequency (f) 22 // 2 24 / 1 26 / 1 36 / 1 38 / 1 39 / 1 42 // 2 44 // 2 48 / 1 50 // 2 52 // 2 54 / 1 56 //// 4 58 // 2 60 // 2 62 / 1 64 // 2 66 /// 3 68 / 1 70 / 1 72 // 2 168

181 73 / 1 74 / 1 76 / 1 78 / 1 Note: Scores are ranked from lowest to highest (ii) Grouped Frequency Distribution Table 15.1 has many classes as there are score values between the highest and the lowest test scores. The table is long and detailed. It fails to summarise the data. The third step is to reduce the number of classes by organising the test scores in arbitrarily defined groupings. These arbitrary groupings of scores are called class intervals or intervals in short. This result into what we call grouped frequency distribution, as shown in Table Usually data is grouped from 5 20 classes. The decision of how many classes/groups is subjective, there is no rule; the number of classes depends on the number of observations and range of the data. Table 15.2: Grouped Frequency Distribution Table Class interval Exact limits Midpoint Tally Frequency // ///// //// ///// ////// ////// / //// /// // // 2 169

182 (iii) Class Intervals Class intervals give the smallest and largest numbers that can belong to a class. iv. Exact Limits of Class Interval or Class Boundaries Used with continuous variables, it refers to the smallest and large numbers that a class can theoretically have. There are two types of exact limits: Upper exact limits (U) and Lower exact limits (L) How are exact limits computed? The upper exact limit is obtained by adding a value of 0.5 to the highest class interval. Using the data from Table 15.2 above highest interval refers to the data/ numbers on the right side in column 1. Thus for the first class interval (75 79) the highest interval is 79. To obtain its exact limits we add 0.5 to 79. The result will be equal to 79.5; this is its exact upper limit. The same can be done to other intervals as it is shown in Table 15.2 second column. The lower exact limit is obtained by subtracting a value of 0.5 from the lowest class interval. Using the data from Table 15.2 above lowest interval refers to the data/ numbers on the left side in column 1. Thus for the first class interval (75 79) the lowest interval is 74. To obtain its exact limits we subtract 0.5. The result will be equal to 74.5; this is its exact lower limit. The same can be done to other intervals as it is shown in Table 15.2 second column. TAKE NOTE It is possible to find the lower and upper exact limits of any number by just adding a value of 0.5 for upper limit and subtracting 0.5 for lower limits. (v) Midpoint (Mpt) for Class Interval in a Frequency Distribution 170

183 This is a value obtained by either adding the lowest and highest value of a given class interval and then divide by two. Also it can be calculated by adding the lower and upper limit divide by two. In symbols it is represented as: MPT = U + L/2, whereby U = upper limit of the interval and L = lower limit of the interval and MPT = midpoint. Midpoint is also called class mark. Example: Using the data from Table 15.2 above, calculate the midpoint of the first class interval. Solution: data given = formula for midpoint = U + L/2; where L = 75 and U = 79 Therefore MPT = /2 = 154/2 = 77 or by using exact limits MPT = /2 = 154/2 = 77 Note: The same was done in calculating the midpoints of other class intervals presented in Table 15.2 (vi) Class Width/Size This represents the difference/distance between two successive numbers. It is represented by letter C or H. It can be calculated by using 3 methods: The first method is by finding the difference between the lower exact limit of adjacent classes or upper exact limits of adjacent classes. Using data from Table 15.2 example: = 5 or = 5 for the case of lower exact limits. For the case of upper exact limits: = 5 or = 5 The second method is by finding the difference between the lower interval of two adjacent class interval or upper interval of adjacent class intervals. Example: = 5 or = 5 for the case of the lower class interval. For the case of upper interval: = 50r = 5 171

184 The third method is by subtracting adjacent midpoints: = 5 or = 5 TAKE NOTE The same answer will be obtained regardless of the method you use (vii) Cumulative Frequency (CUM F or CF) Cumulative frequency refers to a sum of the frequencies of all classes up to and including a given class. There are two types of cumulative frequency: less than and greater than types. A less than type is obtained by summing up the frequencies from the lowest to the highest classes, i.e. starting adding from the lowest class interval/value upwards as shown in Table Table 15.3: Less than Type of Cumulative Frequency Class interval Exact limits Frequency CF A greater than type is obtained by summing up the frequencies from the highest to the lowest classes as shown in Table 15.4 Table 15.4: Greater than Type of Cumulative Frequency Class interval Exact limits Frequency CF

185 (viii) Relative Frequency of a Frequency Distribution Is the frequency of a given class as are proportion of the total frequency. Mathematically this is equal to f i/ f i, Where f i = frequency of a given class i. Relative Percent Frequency = f i/ f i x 100% (ix) Relative Cumulative Frequency Relative cumulative frequency is obtained by summing up the relative frequencies. Again, there are two types namely less than and greater than types. Table 15.5: Relative Frequency of Various OEI 101 TT marks 2011 Class marks (x) Frequen cy (f) Relative cumulative frequency Relative cumulative frequency: Less than type Relative cumulative frequency: Greater than type (x) Rules for Preparing Frequency Distribution There are five rules which act as a guide when preparing a frequency distribution 173

186 Determine the range from the lowest to the highest measurement. The range is obtained by subtracting from the highest score the lowest and adding one. Divide the range into 5 15 intervals of width 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 20, 50 etc. units. Begin each interval with a number divisible by the amount representing the class interval width. End each interval with a number which is one unit less than the beginning of the next interval in order to prevent overlapping. Class intervals are written in descending order of size. The first interval should include the highest score and the last interval should include the lowest score. (xi) Graphical Representation of Frequency Distribution When discussing about descriptive statistics we have seen that data may be presented numerically or pictorially. Therefore this part discusses pictorial data presentation by using graphs. The most common methods of representing a distribution of scores graphically are the: Histogram (frequency histogram or column diagram Frequency polygon Bar graphs (Bar chart) Pie chart Basics in Constructing the Graphs The following are some of the basics which can be followed when constructing graphs: (a) Graph consists of two axes; horizontal axis (x-axis) also called abscissa. Vertical axis (y- axis) also called ordinate. (b) Determine the scale by including minimum and maximum value (c) Label the axis 174

187 (d) Provide the title for the graph Histogram A histogram consists of bars representing frequencies. It is constructed by using frequencies on the y-axis and either lower exact limits values or midpoints on the x-axis. It is used with continuous data. There is no space which is left between the bars when constructing a histogram. Example 1: Using the data given in Table 15.6 construct a histogram. Table 15.6: Frequency Distribution Table for History Scores for 40 Students Class Interval Exact limits Midpoints Frequency CF Solution: 1. Table 15.7: Using Exact Lower Limits And Frequencies Lower Exact Limits Frequencies

188 Table 15.8: Using Mid Points Midpoints Frequencies TAKE NOTE A histogram is used with quantitative data Bar Graph (Bar Chart) Bar graph consists of bars representing frequencies. It is constructed by using frequencies on the y-axis and the given values/behaviours on the x-axis. It is used with nominal/qualitative data. There is a space which is left between the bars when constructing a bar chart. Also, it uses discrete data, for example 60 children were asked about the colour they prefer and their responses were as follows: Table 15.9: Preferred Colours by Children Colour preferred Number of children (f) Blue 10 Red 20 Green

189 Frequency Polygon This is a graph which is constructed/drawn by using midpoints (class marks) on the x-axis and frequencies on the y-axis. Then points are joined with a straight line using a ruler. ACTIVITY Translate the data provided in Table 15.6 above into a frequency polygon. Cumulative Frequency Polygon or Ogive This uses continuous ratio scale data. It is plotted by using class boundaries (exact limits) on the x-axis and cumulative frequencies on the y-axis. Again, there are less than and greater than types of cumulative frequencies. Less than type plots cumulative frequency of a given class on its upper exact limits (upper class boundary). Greater than type plots the cumulative frequency of a given class on its lower exact limits (lower class boundary). Table 15.10: Relative Frequency of Various OEI 101 TT Marks 2011 Class marks (x) Frequenc y (f) Relative cumulative frequency Relative cumulative frequency: Less Relative cumulative frequency: Greater than type than type

190 Pie Chart (Pie Graphs) This is a circle divided into segments where each segment represents a score. It is used with minimal scale data. The sections/segments are labelled with relative percent frequency or with proportion. For example, a pie chart constructed from Table 15.9 above would be as follows: Colour preferred Number of children (f) Relative % frequency = Degrees [f i/ f i x ] [f i/ f i x 100%] Blue 10 30/60 x 100 = Red 20 20/60 x 100 = Green 30 10/60 x Total f ( N ) = 60 EXERCISES 1. Define the following terms: raw scores, frequency, frequency distribution table, exact limits, class width, cumulative 178

191 frequency, midpoint, histogram and pie chart 2. Using the data provided in the table below find: midpoint for each class interval, lower and upper exact limits for each class, class size, cumulative frequencies (both less than and greater than type), draw a histogram and frequency polygon Score Frequency SUMMARY In this lecture you have been introduced to different methods applied in the organization of raw data using the frequency distribution. The two categories of frequency distribution: simple/ungrouped data and grouped data frequency distribution are discussed. The lecture also discusses on how you can compute lower and upper exact limits of a given class interval; its midpoint and class size/width of grouped data frequency distribution. Calculation of cumulative, relative percent frequency and relative cumulative frequency both less than type and greater than type are explained in detail. Rules for preparing frequency distribution are also explained. The last part of this lecture discusses about the graphical/pictorial representation of frequency distribution. The 179

192 different techniques used include are: histogram, frequency polygon, bar chart and pie chart. REFERENCES Graham, A. (2003). Statistics. USA: Contemporary Books. Greer, A. (1980). A first Course in Statistics. Ellenborough House: Stanley Thornes (Publishers) Ltd. Nagar, A. L. and Das, R. K. (1983). Basic Statistics, Second Edition. New York: Oxford University Press. Schimid, C. F. and Schimid, S. E. (1979). Handbook of Graphic Presentation, 2 nd Edition. Chichester: A Ronald Press Publication. LECTURE SIXTEEN MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY 16.1 INTRODUCTION In the previous lecture, we looked at the methods that help us to organize and attach some meaning into the set of observations. In this and next lecture we are going to look at the methods of describing a distribution. We start by examining the methods involving the identification of the most representative scores in the set of observations; that is, calculation of the measures of central tendency: mean, mode and median. LECTUTRE OBJECTIVES 180

193 At the end of this lecture, you should be able to: (i) Indicate and compute three most commonly used measures of central tendency for ungrouped and grouped data (ii) Choose the most appropriate measure of central tendency for any score distribution 16.2 DEFINITION Measures of central tendency are measures of centeredness of the data. The goal of these measures is to describe a group of score with a single measurement. Measures of central tendency sometimes are called measures of location. There are several types of measures of central tendency but the three most commonly used are mean, mode and median The Mean The mean is the average of the scores or is the centre number. For our case we are going to deal with arithmetic mean/average. However, in statistics we have the population mean, which is represented by letter µ and sample mean which is represented by symbol x-bar. For our case in this book we shall be dealing with the sample mean. It is obtained by summing up all the scores and dividing by the total number of frequencies/observations (N). Since data in statistics are either ungrouped or grouped data, when computing the mean we shall base on those two categories. That is, we are going to calculate the mean of ungrouped data and that of grouped data. (i) Calculating the Mean of Ungrouped Data The mean of ungrouped data is calculated by using the following formula: Let X i, X X n stand for a group of numbers we can use X i to represent the ith observation. 181

194 X 1 + X 2 = Sum of the first 2 observations. If n = 5 then the distribution is X 1 + X 2 + X 3 +X 4 + X 5 Sum of scores = X 1 + X 2... X 5 = x i X Bar = x i /n Where: X - Bar = the mean; n = the total number of scores or observations (it is obtained by counting the scores/observations given). For population mean we use capital N; stands for sum of; and X i represents individual score values. Examples 1: Find the mean of the following marks: 60, 45, and 40 Solution: Formula for mean = x i /n; n = 3 = /3 = 145/3 = 48.3 Therefore the mean of the given data = 48.3 Example 2: Suppose you have a frequency distribution of Geography quiz for 8 students, calculate the mean of this quiz. Table 16.1: Geography Quiz Scores for 8 Students Quiz Score (X) Frequency (f)

195 The mean for this question can be obtained by using two methods: The first way is to construct a table and multiply frequency and scores. Table 16.2: Illustration of the Calculation of Mean for Geography Quiz Quiz Score (X) Frequency (f) fx f = 8 fx = 66 Formula Mean = fx/n = 66/8 = The second way: Mean = /8 = 66/8 = 8.25 (ii) Calculating the Mean of Grouped Data Consider the following example: Using the test score distribution in English subject below, calculate the mean. Table 16.3: Illustration of the Calculation of Mean of English Test Using Grouped Data Scores Frequency

196 Solution: Formula for mean of grouped data: Mean = fx/n Where: f (or n) = frequency of the score interval, and X = mid-point of the score interval. The formula provided above implies that in order to calculate the mean of grouped data we have to calculate the midpoint (x) of each class interval first. Thereafter we multiply the midpoint of each class interval by the corresponding frequency and sum up the products. For example, in Table 16.4 the midpoint of the first class interval is 24.5 and it has 4 observations (frequencies) which give us a product of (24.5 x 4) = 98.0 for the first interval. For the second interval, the corresponding values are (34.5 x 3) = In this way, we find the product of the interval mid point (x) and the interval frequency (f). To find the mean, we sum up the products ( fx) which comes to 2180 and divide it by n, which gives us a mean of English test score as This can be summarised as shown in Table Table 16.4: The Mean of English Subject Scores Scores Frequency (f) Midpoint (x) fx f = 40 fx =

197 Applying the formula above; Mean will be 2180/40 = 54.5 Therefore the Mean of this test = 54.5 (iii) Calculating the Mean from Subgroups (Combined mean) To find the mean from subgroups we use the following formula: Mean (total) = n i x-bar i / n i Example: Suppose that the mean score for 12 girls in the class is 26 and the mean score for 8 boys is 22; find the mean score of all children in the class! Solution: Data given are girls: n = 12 and mean = 26; boys: n = 8 and mean = 22; Mean (total) = 12 x x 22/12 = 8, = /20, = 488/20, = Therefore the mean of score of all children in the class = 24.4 (iv) Advantages and Disadvantages of Mean as a Measure of Central Tendency The mean (x bar) is the most commonly used of the three measures of central tendency because it takes into consideration each score in a distribution, unlike the mode and median The Mode (MO) The mode is a score/value which occurs most frequently in a score distribution or mode is a score with the greatest/highest frequency in a given set of data. Since data in statistics are either ungrouped or grouped, when computing the mode we shall base on those two categories. That is we are going to calculate the mode of ungrouped data and that of grouped data. (i) Mode of Ungrouped Data The mode of ungrouped data refers to the most frequently occurring score in a distribution. For examples consider the following scores: 185

198 (a) 2, 6, 8, 6, 9, 9, 10, 9. The mode is 9 because it occurs more often than any other scores. That is it has the highest frequency. (b) When you have nominal scale data, the mode is the quality/category with the highest frequency and not the frequency itself. Consider the following data: Ball games Frequency Netball 21 Handball 5 Volleyball 8 Football 25 Basketball 16 Here mode is football. This implies that most people prefer football. (a) If all scores in a distribution occur with the same frequency, then there will be no mode for those scores. Example: 3, 4, 6, 8, 9. Here each score has got a frequency of 1. Therefore there is no mode. (b) In a score distribution, if two adjacent scores occur with the same frequency that is greater than that of any other score, the mode for such a distribution is obtained by averaging the adjacent scores. Example 4, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, where adjacent scores are 7&8 and they occur with the same frequency of 3. The mode = (7 + 8)/2 = 15/2 = 7.5. (c) In a score distribution, if two non - adjacent scores occur with the same frequency that is greater than that of any other score, then each score may be considered as a mode. For this case we have 2 modes and this condition is termed as bimodal. Under this condition one of the modes is the major mode and the other is the minor mode. Examples: find the mode for the following set of data: 10, 11, 13, and 13, 16, 18, 18. Here two non-adjacent scores are 13 and 18. They occur with the same 186

199 frequency, which is greater than any other score in the distribution. This set of scores is said to have two modes: 13 and18 and is bimodal. (ii) Mode of Grouped Data For grouped data the mode lies in the class interval that has the highest frequency. This class interval with the highest frequency is called the modal class. Thus, the mode of grouped data is obtained by computing the mid point of the modal class. In other words mode is equal to the mid-point of the modal class. Example: Find the mode of a sample of data given in Table Solution: Step 1: Identify the modal class from the data given. For our case the modal class will be and its frequency is equal to 12 Step 2: Calculate the midpoint of the mode class which will be equal to mode of the given data. Formula mid point = U + L/2 = /2 = 109/2 = Therefore the mode = 54.5 which is equal to the mid-point of the given data (iii) Advantages and Disadvantages of Mode as a Measure of Central Tendency The mode is the easiest measure of central tendency to calculate. It can be found at a glance from a frequency distribution table or a graph. In a large sample the mode is a fairly stable measure of central tendency that would take a value close to other two measures of central tendency the median and the mean. But, for a smaller sample, it is subject to chance fluctuations. Therefore, it is only used when a quick estimate is needed or when there is a need to identify the most common score. Unlike the mean, when computing it, mode does not take into consideration each score in a distribution The Median (Mdn) Median is the middle observation in a given set of data/distribution. It is the score that divides an ordered set of data into two equal halves, such that 50% of 187

200 the scores are larger than the median and 50% are smaller than the median. That is, if all observations are put in order from the lowest to the highest or from the highest to the lowest (ascending or descending order), the median is the observation which has an equal number of observations below and above it. Since data in statistics are either ungrouped or grouped, when computing the median we shall base on those two categories. That is, we are going to calculate the mode of ungrouped data and that of grouped data. (i) Median of Ungrouped Data The median of ungrouped data is given by the middle value when the scores are in ascending or descending order. When calculating the median of ungrouped data two things must be put into consideration: (a) When the total number of observations/scores in a distribution is an odd number (e.g. N = 3, 5, 7, 9, 11...). Here the median is the middle value when the scores are ordered. Example: 3, 5, 8, 10 &11. For this case, the total number of observations is equal to 5 which is an odd number. Therefore, the median is 8, with two scores smaller and two scores larger than the median. (b) When the total number of observations/scores in a distribution is an even number (e.g., 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14...). Here the median is the point halfway the two middle values. For this case the median is obtained by first arranging the data into ascending/descending order, this is followed by identifying the two middle values. After that, the median is computed by averaging the two middle values. Consider the following example: 3, 3, 4, 5, 7 & 8. For this case the total number of observations (N = 6) is six which is an even number. The two middle values for our case are 4 and 5. Now we compute the median by averaging the two middle values: Mdn = 4+5/2 = 9/2 = 4.5. (ii) Median of Grouped Data 188

201 To calculate the median for grouped data or for a frequency distribution, the following steps are followed: (a) Establish the number of observations in the distribution by computing the cumulative frequencies, N (b) Determine the half-way point of the distribution, N/2 (c) Identify the median interval in which the middle value falls and determine its exact limits. This class is called the median class interval. It is a class in which the median is formed. This gives the lower exact limits (L) (d) Find the class width (h or c) (e) Find the total of frequencies below the median class (fm) The above steps can be summed up in the following expression: Mdn = L + (N/2 F)h/fm Where L is the exact lower point of the interval containing the median; F is the sum of frequencies below L; Fm is the frequency of the interval containing the median; N is the number of observations; and H is the interval width Consider the following example: calculate median of the data given in Table 16.3 Score Frequency

202 Solution: The median will be solved by following the steps below: (a) Establish the number of observations in the distribution by computing the cumulative frequencies, N Table 16.5: Illustration of the Calculation of the Median of Grouped Data Score Frequency Cumulative frequency (greater than type) Cumulative frequency (less than type) From the Table 16.5 the number of observations (N) is equal to 50 (b) Determine the half-way point of the distribution, N/2. In this case it is (50/2) or 25 (c) Identify the median interval in which the middle value falls and determine its exact limits. This class is called the median class interval. It is a class in which the median is formed. This gives the lower exact limits (L). From step b above the half point of the distribution is 25 from the cumulative frequencies using the greater than type, 25 is found between 16 and 36. That is to say, it lies between class interval and Taking the lower class interval that is as our median class its exact limits are (its lower limit is 44.5 and upper limit is 54.5). Then L = Using the lower than type cumulative frequency, the half point 25 is found between 14 and 34. That is it lies between class interval and

203 (d) Find the class width (h or c) = the difference between two successive intervals = = 5 or = 5. (e) Find the total of frequencies below the median class (fm): with the greater than type = 16. This obtained by adding all the frequencies below the median class ( = 16). If we apply the expression to the above example, then we would obtain these values for the data in Table 16.3: L = 44.5; F = 20; fm = 16; N = 50 and h = 5. If we substitute these values in the above equation, we will get: Mdn = (50/2 16/20)5 = (25-16/20)5 = (9/20)5 = /20 = = Therefore the median for the given set of data = CHOICE OF MEASURES OF CENTRAL TENDENCY When selecting an appropriate measure among the three measures of central tendency, an important point to keep in mind is that the average/mean should be the most representative number of the whole score. Other things to consider include: The level/scale of Measurement The choice must be guided by the knowledge of the scale of measurements of the variable of interest. This implies that, one has to know in which scale of measurement are the data given falling. For nominal scale data, mode is the only measure that may be computed. For ordinal scale data, one has to choose between the mode and the median. And the choice will be guided by the shape of the distribution. If the variable has a peaked distribution then the mode would be a more representative number. However, in most cases the median is used. In the case of interval or ratio scales all the three measures make sense. 191

204 Shape of the Distribution The choice must be guided by the knowledge of the shape of the distribution. In case of an interval or ratio scale data if the variable describes a symmetrical (normal) distribution the mean is a more representative measure. With an asymmetrical distribution, the median is a more representative measure, and for a peaked loptokurtic distribution, the mode would be more representative measure. If a distribution does not bend centrally, for example, a variable that has a bimodal distribution or a U shaped distribution, no measure of central tendency would be able to describe the scores adequately. For a unimodal symmetrical (normal) distribution all the three measures of central tendency will be numerically equal. SUMMARY In this lecture you have been introduced to the measures of central tendency. They are also termed as measures of location. These measures are concerned with the identification of the most representative score in a given set of observations. They include the mean, mode and median. Calculation of the mean, mode and median of both ungrouped and grouped data have been explained in detail. Also the merits and demerits of each measure are highlighted. The last part of this lecture discusses the points to consider when selecting an appropriate measure of central tendency to use: the scale of measurement, the shape of the distribution and the purpose of the study. EXERCISES 1. Define the following terms: mean, mode, median, modal class, median class, bimodal distribution. 2. Use the given sets of data to compute the three commonly used measures of central tendency: 192

205 (i) 55, 59, 64, 64, 68, 70, 73, 75, 76, 79, 81, 81, 82, 84, 85, 85, 92, 95, 98 (ii) 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 (iii) 123, 123, 124, 125, 129, 129, 129 (iv) 20, 10, 19, 12, 18, 13, Use the data given in the table below to calculate the mean, mode and median Class interval Frequency REFERENCES 4. Identify and explain briefly any three factors that govern the choice of a measure of central tendency to use. 5. A sample of 8 children took a mathematics test and their mean score was 24. After a week, two children who had previously been absent took the test. Their scores were x 1 = 32 and x 2 = 36. What will be the mean score if their scores are included in the original distribution? Clarke, G. M. and Cooke, D. (1992). A basic Course in Statistics, 3 rd Edition. London: Edward Arnold Crawshaw, J. and Chambers, J. (1994). A concise Course in A Level Statistics with Worked Examples, 3 rd Edition. UK: Stanley Thornes (Publishers) LTD. Hartley, A. (1991). Basic Statistics. UK: Gwelfryn Publications Moore, D. S. and McCabe, G. P. (1989). Introduction to the Practice of Statistics. New York: W.H. Freeman and 193

206 Company Namusonge, G. S. (1987). Business Statistics (BBS 202 Part B). Nairobi: Nairobi University. Namusonge, G. S. (1988). Business Statistics (BBS 202 Part A). Nairobi: Nairobi University. 194

207 LECTURE SEVENTEEN MEASURES OF DISPERSION 17.1 INTRODUCTION In this lecture we are going to look at the second methods of describing a distribution. In the previous lecture we looked at the first method which involves the identification of the most representative score of the set of observations. That is calculation of the measures of central tendency, i.e. mean, mode and median. The second method of describing a distribution involves looking at the spread of the scores from the mean/centre calculating the measures of dispersion, i.e. range, mean deviation, semi-interquartile range, variance and standard deviation. LECTURE OBJECTIVES At the end of this lecture, you should be able to: (i) Explain what it means by range, semi-interquartile range, average deviation, variance and standard deviation; (ii) Compute the range, semi-interquartile range, average deviation, variance and standard deviation for ungrouped and grouped data; (iii) Choose an appropriate measure of dispersion to summarise a set of data MEANING OF MEASURES OF DISPERSION Measures of dispersion are methods of quantifying how much scores differ from the mean. That is, they indicate the extent to which scores are spread out from the mean. Measures of dispersion are also called measures of variability or measures of spread. There are many measures of dispersion but only five methods of measuring dispersion will be discussed in this lecture they include 195

208 range, semi-interquartile range, average, deviation variance, and standard deviation The Range (R) Range is a measure of the distance between the highest and the lowest scores in the distribution. Since data in statistics are either ungrouped or grouped data, when computing the range we shall base on those two categories. That is, we are going to compute the range of ungrouped data and that of grouped data. (i) Range of Ungrouped Data Range of ungrouped data is obtained by calculating the difference between the highest score and lowest score. Mathematically it is given by the formula R = H L; where R is the range; H is the highest score, and L is the lowest score. Consider the following examples: (a) Calculate the range of the given sample of data 70, 61, 45, 47, 50, 45, 50, 42, 50, 43 Solution: First you have to rearrange the given data into ascending or descending order 42, 43, 45, 45, 47, 50, 50, 50, 61, 70 Second you have to identify the highest score (H) and the lowest score (L). From the given data: H = 70 and L= 42 Formula for range (R) = H L R = = 28. Therefore the range for the sample of data given = 28 (b) Calculate the range of sample 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60 Solution: Since the data given are ordered, there is no need of ordering them again. Find H and L. For our case H = 60 and L= 52. Formula for range: R= H L = =8. Therefore, the range for the data given = 08 (ii) Range of Grouped Data 196

209 The same formula for calculating the range of ungrouped data is used to calculate the range of grouped data. That is R = H L. However with grouped data there are five different ways used as demonstrated in the following example from a test score distribution in Chemistry subject: Table 17.1: Illustration of the Calculation of Range Using Grouped Data Scores Frequency Solution (a) Firstly, the range may be computed by using the difference between the highest score and lowest score in the lower class interval. Look at the data on the left side of the first column (20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70). From those data H = 70 and L = 20. R = H- L = = 50. Therefore, range = 50. (b) Secondly, the range may be computed by using the difference between the highest score and lowest score in the upper class interval. Look at the data on the right side of the first column (29, 39, 49, 59, 69, and 79). From those data H = 79 and L = 29. R = H- L = = 50. Therefore, range = 50. (c) Thirdly, the range may be computed by finding the differences between the highest midpoint and the lowest midpoint of the given data. Using the data from Table 16.4: mid-points are: 24.5, 34.5, 44.5, 54.5, 64.5,

210 From those data H = 74.5 and L= R = H- L = = 50. Therefore, range = 50. (d) Fourthly, Use the data from Table 16.4; the range may be computed by finding the differences between the highest score of the lower exact limit interval and its lowest scores. Here you have to calculate the lower exact limits by taking away 0.5 from each data on the left side of column one. Table 17.2: Illustration of the Calculation of the Range of Grouped Data by Using Exact Limits Scores Frequency Exact limits of class interval Lower-Upper From Table 17.2 the values for the lower exact limits of class intervals are: 19.5, 29.5, 39.5, , Our H will be 69.5 and L= R = = 50. Therefore, range = 50 (e) Fifthly, the range may be computed by finding the differences between the highest score of the upper exact limit interval and its lowest scores. Here you have to calculate the upper exact limits by adding 0.5 to each data on the right side of column one. From the Table17.2 the values for the upper exact limits of class intervals are 29.5, 39.5, 49.5, , Our H will be = 79.5 and L= R = = 50. Therefore, range = 50 TAKE NOTE 198

211 Whatever method you choose (from a e) when computing the range of grouped data, the same answer will be obtained. (iii) Merits and Demerits of Range as a Measure of Dispersion Merits: It is computed easily; it is used for quick estimate. Demerits: It is subject to fluctuations. The fluctuations are there because, firstly; it only uses two scores and ignores the spread of other scores that lie between the two. Secondly; the extreme scores are generally not very reliable Semi-Interquartile Range (Q) Semi-interquartile range (Q) refers to the half of the distance between the third quartile and the first quartile. It is also known as the quartile deviation. It is obtained by using formula Q = Q 3 Q 1 /2 where Q is the Semi-interquartile range, Q 1 is the first quartile, and Q 3 is the third quartile. (i) How to Calculate Semi-Interquartile Range (Q) Semi-interquartile range is computed by first arranging the given data into ascending or descending order. Secondly; the given data for any given score distribution are divided into four parts or quarters which are called quartiles. The first quartile - Q 1 is that point on the number scale which one-fourth (25%) of observations lie below of. Similarly, the second quartile Q 2 will be a point on the number scale which one-half (50%) of the observations lie below of. The third quartile - Q 3 is the point on the number scale which three-fourth (75%) of the observations lies below of. For example the scores on Geography examination for Form I students are 19, 22, 25, 60, 16, 21, 22, 27, 26, 22, 20, 15, 17, 21, 23, 29. Calculate the Semi-interquartile range. Solution: Firstly arrange the given data as 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 21, 22, 22, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 60. Secondly divide the total number of observations (N) into 4 quartiles. Since N = 16/4 = 4 this implies that each quartile will carry 4 values. Therefore Q 1 will 199

212 have a value between 19 and 20 = 19.5 and Q will have a value between 25 and 26 = Then Q = Q 3 Q 1 /2 = /2 = 6/2 = 3.0 or We can compute Q by using the 4 th term = 19 as Q 1 and the 12 th term = 25 as Q 3. Thus, Q = Q 3 Q 1 /2 = 25 19/2 = 6/2 = 3.0 (i) Merits and Demerits of Semi-Interquartile Range It is not difficult to calculate, and unlike the range it provides a more detailed description of spread. (Note that Semi-interquartile range is normally used to describe the dispersion of scores for which the median is identified as the most representative score.) Since half the score in a distribution lies between the first (Q1) and third (Q3), the semi-quartile range is half the distance needed to cover half the scores. In a symmetric distribution, an interval stretching from one semi-interquartile above the median will contain half the scores. According to Mlane (2013) this will not be true in a skewed distribution. The semi interquartile range is little affected by extreme scores, so it is a good measure of spread for skewed distributions. However, it is more subject to sampling fluctuations in normal distributions than is the standard deviation and therefore not often used for data that are approximately normally distributed The Average Deviation (AD) This is the first of the three measures of dispersion in whose calculation every score in a distribution is utilized. Before we discuss it in detail, let us first understand the meaning of the word deviation (D). Deviation refers to the difference between an individual score and the mean. Mathematically D = X i mean where X i is the individual score. For example if the mean = 50 and the individual scores are 53 and 43 respectively, then D = = 3; D = = -5. After knowing the meaning of the word deviation, we can now look at the concept average deviation. This refers to the value obtained when the sum 200

213 of all deviations is divided to the total number of observations. Average deviation is also known as the mean deviation. This is done by adding up the deviation scores without regard to signs. The process involves taking the absolute value of a number, which implies that any score/ number is regarded as a positive number. For example; the absolute value of -2 is [2] as the absolute value of +2 is also 2. The average deviation is calculated by using the following formula: AD = I x i Mean)/NI. The same formula is used for both ungrouped and grouped data. (i) Calculating the Mean Deviation of Ungrouped Data Consider the following examples: (a) Compute the average deviation of the sample 8, 1, 3, 0 Solution: Firstly, you have to calculate the mean of the given data: Mean = x/n = /4 = 12/4 = 3. Secondly, you find the deviation for each score by subtracting the mean from each individual score: D = X Mean, example for the first score = 8 3 = 5, then convert the deviation into absolute values. This can be summarised as follows in Table 17.3: Table 17.3: Illustration on the Calculation of Mean Deviation of Ungrouped Data Score (x) X mean (deviation) Absolute value of deviations (x mean) = 10 Thirdly, calculate the average deviation by using the formula: AD = I x i Mean)/NI; AD = 10/4 = 2.5. Therefore, the AD of the given data = 2.5 (a) Calculate the mean deviation of 70, 61, 45, 47, 50, 45, 50, 42, 50,

214 Solution Firstly, calculate the mean = x/n = /10 = 503/10 = 50.3; then construct a table to find deviations. EXERCCISES 1. State the meaning of the following measures of dispersion: range, semi- interquartile range, mean deviation, variance and standard deviation 2. Calculate the range, mean deviation, variance and standard deviation of the following sample of data: 62,63,66,66,70,72,73,77,84,86,95,97 3. Calculate the semi-interquartile range of the given data: 11,11,12,12,12,12,13,13,13,14,14,15,15,15,15,15,15,16,16,16,1 6,1616,16,16,16,16,16,17,17,17,18,18,18,18,19,19,19,19,20 4. Calculate the range, mean deviation, standard deviation, class width and variance of the data in the table below: Class Interval frequency How many observations are there in question 4 above? 6. Explain the usefulness of the measures of variability in test interpretation. SUMMARY 202

215 In this lecture you have been introduced to the measures of dispersion. That is, the measures expressing dispersion from the mean. These are also known as measures of variability or measures of spread. Although there are many measures of dispersion only five have been dealt with: range, semi-inter, quartile range, average deviation, variance and standard deviation, variance and standard deviation have been discussed in detail. The merits and demerits of each measure are also covered. The last part of this lecture explains how each measure is used in test interpretation. REFERENCES Alhamis, I. (2001). Social Science Research Methods II (OEC 111). Dar-Es-Salaam: The Open University of Tanzania. Babyegeya, E.N.K. (1998). Test and Measurements. Dar-Es- Salaam: The Open University of Tanzania. Bennett, A.B. and Nelson, T.L. (2001). Mathematics for Elementary Teachers. A Conceptual Approach. 5 th Edition. Boston: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Bowerman, B.L. and O connel, R.T. (1997). Applied Statistics: Improving Business processes. Chicago: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Enon, J.C. (1998). Educational Research, Statistics and Measurement, Second edition. Kampala Department of Distance Education, Makerere University. Moore, D. S. and McCabe, G.P. (1989). Introduction to the Practice of Statistics. New York: W.H. Freeman and Company. Nagar, A.L. and Das, R.K. (1983). Basic Statistics, Second Edition. New York: Oxford University Press. 203

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