PDPET (DElEd Bridge Course), NIOS, ~ Vijay Singh Rajput
Course
524 Assignment I Block 1: Pedagogy of Languages
1. Which tools and techniques will you use for
assessing reading skills of students? Explain one technique and tool with
suitable example.
Reading in any language has a
crucial role to play in creating independent learners and increasing their
educational attainment. Reading is the basis of a student’s success at all
levels of education. A careful assessment of reading skills is therefore
essential.
Some
of the tools and techniques used for assessing reading skills of students are Reading aloud a story, Retelling a story,
Reading pictures, Cloze Test, Scanning tasks, Skimming tasks, Ordering tasks or
Strip Story technique.
Retelling
a Story:
Retellings require a child to
read a text and then orally reconstruct a story. As part of retelling, students
engage in ordering and summarizing information and in making inferences. The
teacher can use retelling as a way to assess how well students comprehend a
story, and then use this information to help students develop a deeper
understanding of what they have read.
In Simple
retelling at primary level the student can:
identify and retell
the beginning, middle, and end of a story in order.
describe the setting.
identify the problem
and the solution of a problem.
Students who are able to
comprehend texts gain an in-depth understanding of the text. This enables them
to relate the knowledge to what they have previously learned as well as to what
they may learn in the future. The above observation can be used to give marks
or grades.
Course
524 Assignment II Block 1: Pedagogy of Languages
2.
Discuss Multilingualism as a Resource and Strategy. Share your experience of
how you used your mother tongue in the English class during your practice of
teaching. Did you find it was a resource or a hindrance? Give likely reasons
for your answer.
Multilingualism is the act of
using multiple languages. If we accommodate the languages spoken by children
with different linguistic backgrounds in a class it gives acceptance to the
child in the class and flexibility to the language learning process. Because languages
flourish in company, so the interaction with and among the children strengthens
multilingualism and pace of learning the language.
Multilingualism is a rich
resource in learning a new language. It facilitates learning of other
languages. When we already know a language, we can use this prior knowledge to
construct the structures of any language that we learn later with much more
ease and comfort. Knowledge of other languages makes us more open-minded and
more receptive to varied cultural conventions, customs and usages.
While
teaching English I use only English language. Hindi is rarely used and other
regional languages are avoided as far as possible. However, it does not mean
that there is no scope for Hindi and other regional languages.
In a
chapter, it is written “Here is a woman we have discovered, sitting beside an
old man who is completely paralyzed.” The word paralyzed can be explained as a muscular
disease or inability of muscles to work properly. The students may understand
that it is some type of muscular problem. But if I say it means ‘lakva’ in Hindi, the students will
understand it better because they may be already familiar with what ‘lakva’ is.
Similarly,
to explain the meaning of ‘pomegranate’, I can say that it is a fruit and
describe how it looks like. The students may understand that it some fruit but
they will not be able to identify it. The option with me is to show them a
picture of pomegranate. This would be the best technique in this case. But if I
don’t have such a picture at that time, it would be the best for me to tell that
is ‘anaar’. This would avoid all the
confusion on the part of students and all unnecessary efforts from my part.
When
mother tongue is used in a limited amount and in a proper way, it is a resource
and if it is used too frequently, it is a hindrance. In English class, our
purpose is to learn and teach English. That can be done best by speaking
English. If we depend too much on mother tongue, it will reduce opportunities
of the students to learn English.
Assignment
I Block
2: Pedagogy of Environmental Studies
1. What is cooperative learning approach? What are its
advantages? Write down the three principles of cooperative learning.
Cooperative Learning Approach
According to Brody and Davidson “CL
is a pedagogy that generates a diversified body of methods of instructions, all
of which organise students .to work in groups towards a common goal or outcome,
or share a common problem or task in such a way that they can only succeed in
completing the work through behaviour that demonstrates interdependence, while
holding individual contributions and efforts accountable.”
According
to G. Jacobs, “CL is a concepts and techniques for enhancing the value of group
activities.”
Advantages:
·
CL
helps increase students’ ability to appreciate others’ perspectives and view
points, and help them develop inter-personnel skills, problem-solving skills,
conflict management, as well as decision-making skills.
·
CL
enables learners to react differently, yet appropriately in different
situations.
·
CL
situations provide learners the opportunity to explore multiple viewpoints and
weigh the prospects and consequences of each of these and debate upon the same.
·
CL
sessions can very much facilitate enhancement of such skills among the learners
Principles:
·
Positive Interdependence: It includes
sharing a common team goal/objective, sharing common resources, creating common
identity for a group.
·
Individual Accountability: It is
important that there is a task for each one and also there is some task to be
completed as a group together
·
Equal Status Interactions among the team
members is essential for smooth teamwork.
Assignment
II Block 2: Pedagogy of Environmental Studies
2.
What do you mean by Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation? Differentiate
between formative and summative evaluation with the help of an example. What
characteristics make evaluation effective?
Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation
Continuous
and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) refers to a system of school-based
evaluation of students that covers all aspects of student’s development.
It is a
developmental process of assessment which emphasizes on two fold objectives.
These objectives are continuity in evaluation and assessment of broad based
learning and behavioural outcomes on the other.
In this
scheme the term `continuous' is meant to emphasise that evaluation of
identified aspects of students `growth and development' is a continuous process
rather than an event. The second term `comprehensive' means that the scheme
attempts to cover both the scholastic and the co-scholastic aspects of
students' growth and development. and aims at assessing a learner's development
in areas of learning like: Knowledge, Understanding, Application, Skill etc.
Difference between Formative and
Summative Evaluation
Formative
assessment is a tool used by the teacher to continuously monitor student
progress in a non-threatening, supportive environment. It involves regular
descriptive feedback, a chance for the student to reflect on the performance,
take advice and improve upon it.
Summative
assessment is carried out at the end of a course of learning. It measures or
'sums up' how much a student has learned from the course. It is usually a
graded test, i.e., it is marked according to a scale or set of grades. Assessment
that is predominantly of summative nature will not by itself be able to yield a
valid measure of the growth and development of the child. It, at best,
certifies the level of achievement only at a given point of time. The paper
pencil tests are basically a one-time mode of assessment and to exclusively
rely on it to decide about the development of a child is not only unfair but
also unscientific. The overemphasis on Summative Assessment system also
produces enormous stress and anxiety among the learners.
Characteristics of Effective Evaluation
·
Valid assessment is the one which is
relevant to the EVS objectives and also to the learning experiences provided.
It addresses the essential skills and knowledge and dimensions of competency,
as well as more importantly values.
·
Reliable assessment produces consistent
outcomes when applied by different teachers in a range of contexts. Objective
assessment like ‘match the pairs’ is likely to be more reliable than subjective
assessment such as essay writing.
·
Fair assessment does not disadvantage
any student and takes into account the personality and preferences of every
student being assessed.
·
Flexible assessment tools and processes
make an assessment suit/ relevant in a range of teaching learning contexts.
Assignment
I Block 3: Pedagogy of Mathematics
1. All round development of a human being can be done
with the help of mathematics. With reference to this line explain the
importance of mathematics. Write objectives of teaching mathematics at
elementary level.
The Importance of Mathematics
The purpose of school education
is the all round development of a child. And this can be achieved by the
teaching of mathematics. Mathematics is very important in real life situation.
It is used in games and sports, in vocations, in entertainment, while shopping
etc. Mathematics is closely related to other school subjects like science and
art education. Likewise, it is also correlated to literature, environmental
studies, history, physical education etc. Learning mathematics and developing
problem solving abilities among the learners are nearly synonymous. The problem
solving ability of the learner is dependent on the acquisition of mathematical
knowledge. Thus, mathematics can do all round development of the child.
Objectives
of Teaching Mathematics
Developing the ability of
mathematization includes developing such abilities as problem solving, use of
heuristics, estimation and approximation, optimisation, use of patterns,
visualization, representation, reasoning and proof, making connections,
mathematical communication including developing aesthetic feeling.
Considering the broader and
narrower aims of mathematics education, the followings are some of the major
aims of mathematics education:
·
To
develop the powers of thinking and reasoning.
·
To
solve mathematical problems of daily life.
·
To
understand and acquainted with the environment and culture
·
To
prepare the child for various technical and general future professions.
·
To
prepare the child for higher study.
·
To
develop in the child the power for invention.
Assignment
II Block 3: Pedagogy of Mathematics
2.
Select any topic of your choice from mathematics textbook of class VI. How you
will use mathematics laboratory to teach this topic. Explain with suitable
examples.
Topic
chosen: Area of right angled triangle
This topic can be taught in the classroom. Later an
activity can be performed in the mathematics laboratory.
Mathematics laboratory is a place
where students can learn and explore various mathematical concepts and verify
different mathematical facts and theories using varieties of activities and
material. The use of mathematics laboratory helps to integrate theory and
practical work in mathematics teaching /learning.
Learners get hands-on experience
for different activities here. Mathematics Laboratory can foster mathematical
awareness, skill building, positive attitude and learning by doing in different
branches of mathematics. It is the place where students can learn certain
concepts using concrete objects and verify many mathematical facts and
properties using models, measurements and other activities. Mathematics
Laboratory is a learning
environment where learners decide that mathematics is more than practicing
‘sums’ that the teacher assigns.
The activity in the mathematics
laboratory is explained below:
Activity: Area
of right angled triangle
Objective: To show that the
area of a triangle is half the product of the base and the height using paper cutting
and pasting.
Pre-requisite
knowledge
1. Formula for the area of a
rectangle.
2. A diagonal of a parallelogram
divides it into two congruent triangles.
Material
Required: Chart
paper, pencil, compass, scale, a pair of scissors, cello tape.
Procedure
1. Cut a right angle triangle.
[Fig 1]
2. Cut a triangle congruent to
the right angle triangle. [Fig 2]
3. Align the hypotenuse of the
two triangles to obtain a rectangle. [Fig 3]
Observations
The
students observe that two congruent triangles aligned on hypotenuse forms a
rectangle.
They can see that area of
rectangle = area of two congruent triangles.
Area of
rectangle = base × height
Therefore,
Area of triangle = ½ × Area of rectangle = ½ × base × height
Fig 1 Fig
2 Fig 3
Assignment
I Block 4: Pedagogy of Science
1. What is scientific method? Explain different steps
of scientific method.
According to Lundberg “Scientific
method consists of systematic observation, classification and interpretation of
data”.
Carl Pearson says “The scientific
method is marked by the following features: Careful and accurate classification
of facts, observation of their co-relation and sequence, and discovery of
scientific laws with the aid of creative imagination and their self-criticism.”
Steps
of the Scientific Method
·
Ask a Question: The scientific method starts
when you ask a question about something that you observe: How, What, When, Who,
Which, Why, or Where?
·
Do Background Research: Get some
information from textbooks, internet etc or use your previous experience.
·
Construct a Hypothesis: A hypothesis is an educated guess about how things
work. It is an attempt to answer your question with an explanation that can be
tested.
·
Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment: Your experiment tests whether
your prediction is accurate and thus your hypothesis is supported or not.
·
Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion: Once your experiment is
complete, you collect your measurements and analyze them to see if they support
your hypothesis or not.
·
Communicate Your Results: To complete your
project you will communicate your results to others in a final report.
Assignment
II Block 4: Pedagogy of Science
2.
What is the use of preparing a lesson plan in science teaching? What questions
need to be answered while preparing a lesson plan? Write down important steps
of writing a lesson plan.
Use and Need of Preparing a Lesson Plan:
·
When
we attempt the complicated teaching-learning process, it is necessary to plan
and prepare for this important activity. The quality of planning affects the quality
of results.
·
A
careful preparation results in excellence. To be effective in our class we
should devote much time and energy in carefully planning and preparing for the
whole year for each unit of the syllabus and for the daily lessons.
·
To
ensure optimum learning, we must carefully select and arrange activities that
will produce the desired learning outcomes in our students. Only through
careful planning we can be certain that we include all necessary information
and have our lesson plan properly organized to achieve the lesson objectives.
·
A
lesson plan is a teacher’s detailed description of the course of instruction
for one class. Daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide her
classroom instruction.
·
A
well-developed lesson plan reflects interests and needs of students. It
features best practices of curriculum transaction.
Questions
to be Answered
Whom to teach? (Understanding the
needs of students)
When to teach? (Deciding a
suitable time)
What to
teach? (Selecting the content/concepts)
Why to
teach? (Deciding the learning outcomes)
How to
teach? (Selecting methods and strategies)
How to
assess? (Deciding the assessment procedures)
Important Steps of Writing a Lesson Plan
When you put all the above stages
together you will find that the complete cycle of lesson planning includes
eight steps:
1. Determine the objectives
2. Research the topic as defined
by the objectives
3. Select the appropriate
instructional method
4. Identify a usable lesson
planning format
5. Decide how to organize the
lesson
6. Choose appropriate support
material
7. Prepare the beginning and
ending of the lesson
8. Prepare a final outline.
While
planning the lesson you need to rigorously focus on the following points:
·
Framing the learning objectives:
An objective is a statement of
purpose for the whole lesson. It specifies what students will be able to do by
the end of the lesson.
·
Selecting the teaching-learning strategy
An effective teaching strategy
will decrease classroom management problems and will increase involvement of
students in the teaching–learning process.
·
Selecting teaching learning activities/learning
experiences
This relates directly to the
objectives and the identified scientific concepts involved. It also provides
the basis for assessment. It is necessary to arrange the activities logically
and sequentially.
