TEACHING LEARNING MATERIALS

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background

All of us have memories of our teachers who had taught us during school or college days. A few of them were good, whereas others were not so good. Let us analyze why did we call them good? Yes, they were caring, sympathetic, and pleasant besides being effective in their teaching. One thing common among them was that they used new methods, techniques and teaching learning materials to make teaching interesting, thus, effective. 

Teaching learning materials (TLMs), also known as instructional aids, facilitate a teacher in achieving the learning objectives formulated by her/him prior to teaching-learning activities start. In the present Unit, we will introduce you to various teaching learning materials, which are used to make classroom teaching and learning interesting and effective.

In this chapter we shall discuss variety of teaching learning materials used in classroom teaching. We will also explain how to prepare low or no cost TLMs from locally available resources. Involving students in this venture will be experiential learning for them, how to do it? The unit will also guide you on this aspect.

B. Formulation of The Problem

1) What is the meaning of learning                       material ?

2) What are the types of learning                           materials ?

3) How to develop learning materials ?

C. Purpose

1) Can know about the understanding of            learning material 

2) Can know kind of learning material                and exampel

CHAPTER II

DISCUSSION

A. DEFINITION OF TEACHING LEARNING MATERIALS

According to Arikunto in Darwyn Syah, et al. (2007) in the LAPIS PGMI book Learning material is a core element that is present in learning activities, because it is the learning material that students strive to master. 

Teaching materials are all forms of materials used to help the teacher / instructor in carrying out teaching and learning activities. The intended material can be either written material or unwritten material. (National center for vocational Education Research Ltd / National center for Competence based Learning in Abdul Majid (2006)). 

With teaching material enables students to learn a basic competency or competency in a coherent and systematic manner so that they are able to master all competencies intact and integrated. Teaching material is information, tools and texts needed by the teacher / instructor for planning and studying the implementation of learning.

Learning materials are all the contents of the curriculum that must be mastered by students, in accordance with the basic competencies in the context of achieving the competency standards of each subject in a particular educational unit. Learning material can also be interpreted as material needed for the formation of knowledge, skills and attitudes that students must master in order to meet the specified competency standards. The subject matter can be divided into knowledge (cognitive), attitude (affective) and skills (psychomotor).

Based on these definition that we can get the conclution that TLM are Teaching learning materials (TLMs) are, therefore, tools, which are used by teachers to help learners to learn concept with ease and efficiency. TLMs have been in existence in our educational system since ancient times, (Lal, 2011).

The role of TLMs in the classroom are to make learning real, practical and fun for children. Teachers use TLMs to illustrate or reinforce a skill, fact or idea. TLMs also help in bringing novelty and freshness in classroom teaching as it relieves learners from anxiety, fear and boredom.

Knowledge material (cognitive) relates to various information that must be memorized and discussed by students, so students can reveal it again. Merril (in Wina Sanjaya: 2011) distinguishes contents (cognitive learning material) on 4 types, namely: 

a. Fact

is the nature of a phenomenon, event, thing, whose form can be captured by the five senses. Facts are knowledge related to specific (single) data, both those that have occurred and that are happening that can be tested or observed. For example in History, Commemoration of Independence Day on August 17, etc.

b. Concept

is the abstraction of similarity or connectedness of a group of objects or properties. A concept has a section called attributes. Attributes are characteristics possessed by a concept. The combination of various attributes becomes a differentiator between one concept and another. Concept material for example understanding ecosystems, plant characteristics, etc.

c. Procedure

is subject matter related to students' ability to explain steps systematically about something. The relationship between two or more empirically tested concepts is called generalization. Examples of the material are the steps to cuttings on plants.

d. Principle

The subject matter about principles can be in the form of research results / a theory that has been proven, so that it can be trusted. Someone will be able to draw on a principle if he has understood various relevant facts and concepts. For example the proposition of phagagoras, formulas, etc.

B. TYPES OF TEACHING LEARNING MATERIALS

Teaching learning materials are of various types and thus are classified and categorized in several ways. Edgar Dale’s cone of experience is one of the simplest ways of categorizing TLMs. He experimented with different TLMs and categorized them on the basis of type of experiences the learner acquires – from concrete to abstract.

Another widely accepted and popular way of categorizing TLMs is based on the senses they stimulate in learners, which, in turn affect the effectiveness of teaching learning process. TLMs can broadly be classified into three categories.

a) Audio TLMs

Audio TLMs: These TLMs primarily stimulate the hearing sense of learner. It includes- human voice, telephonic conversation, audio discs/tapes, gramophone records, Radio broadcast

b) Visual TLMs

Visual TLMs: These types of TLMs involve the sense of vision. They stimulate the visual impulses. These can be of various types as given below:

1) Visual (Verbal) Print. (the text is the               main instructional or teaching learning  aid)

2) Textbook, Supplementary book.

3) Reference books, encyclopedia, etc.

4) Magazine, Newspaper

5) Documents and Clippings

6) Duplicated written material

7) Programmed material or SLM

8) Case Studies/Reports etc.

9) Visual (Pictorial- Non Projected )–

a. Non-projected two dimensional – Here the TLM is in form of an image or picture explaining the concept. Examples of such type of TLMs are blackboard writing and drawing Charts, Posters, Maps, Diagrams, Graphs, Photographs, Cartoons, Comic strips.

b. Non-Projected three-dimensional – This category includes threedimensional representation of the real object or phenomenon. It helps learners in conceptualization. It includes – Models, Mock-up,Diorama, Globe, Relief Map, Specimen, Puppet, and Hologram.

10) Visual (Projected but still) – Here the images are projected or displayed on a screen and thus are nearer reality than visual non-projected ones. It includes – Slide, Filmstrips, Over Head Projector (OHP), Microfilm, Micro card, etc.

c) Audio Visual TLMs

Audio Visual TLMs are the projected aids, which use both auditory and visual senses to enhance learning. The greatest advantage of these is they are the closest representation of reality. These include – Motion Picture Film, Television, Video discs/cassettes, slide – tape presentations, Multimedia Computer.

C. EXAMPLE OF TEACHING LEARNING

1) Text Books

You must have read many books. In books, text is the method of communicating. Books are written by authors for learners to help them learn new things. The book specially written by authors for learners of a particular course is known as textbook. Textbook is very important basic teaching learning material. It is written specifically to satisfy specific needs of the syllabus. In most cases, a textbook serves as a focal point base for organizing learning activities. In some textbooks like the NCERT textbooks both teacher’s and pupil’s activities are included in form of questions, suggestions, experiments, topics for discussion, etc. As often they are prescribed by the schools, and are based on specified syllabus under a curriculum, they are often referred to as curricular material.

Textbooks are predominantly textual with some images. Normally, content in a textbook is organized under chapters, units and lessons. Most textbooks are writtenNin factual or information giving style with little or no interactivity inbuilt in the text. Thus, most of them do not serve the purpose of self-learning materials for learners.

When textbooks are written in conversational style with activities, they serve as a basis of self-study as well. They, therefore, assist learners to acquire good reading skills and develop language comprehension. If textbooks are well illustrated and written in interesting style, they act as interesting individualized learning materials for the learners. Thus, the quality and utility of textbook depends on the author.

While writing a text book for students at elementary level, the author needs to

keep in mind the following points:

i) Text book should provide authentic content knowledge;

ii) Contents in the text book should be logical, coherent and sequential;

iii) Language used in the textbook needs to be simple, and comprehensible by elementary 

      students

iv) Presentation of contents needs to be conversational and based on sound pedagogic  

     principles;

v) Concepts and propositions need to be explained with examples and illustration;

vi) There need to be a lot of activities, cases built into the textbook;

vii) Presentation of contents needs to motivate the learners throughout the process of   

      learning.

2) Graphic Materials

Very often, it is not possible to bring concrete reality to classroom in form of real objects (specimens) or their representations (models). In such situations, you may use graphics. Graphic materials help to simplify, illustrate, and concretize learning experiences for learners. Maps, charts, posters are graphic materials, which are widely used for teaching contents in sciences and social sciences.

3) Maps

You must have used maps to find your way to a new place. Google maps have become almost indispensable finding our way around places. Maps are scaled down representations of the real earth’s surface on paper. Every map is symbolized summary of earth’s surface; therefore, it provides information in condensed form.

The symbols used are through lines, dots, colours, words and signs. Maps are useful tool in every discipline. In social studies, it is very important for learning geographical, historical, and economical concepts. Details in map at elementary level are kept simple enabling learners to locate places, different physical features and to read directions.

Maps are broadly classified into following categories:

a. Physical Maps, which show climate, soil, forest areas, resources, rainfalll, etc.

b. Political Map which show political divisions of countries and places;

c. Economic Maps are those maps showing the crop distribution, land use, transport, etc.

d. Social Maps, show demographic distribution, in country. The literacy rate, language, tribes etc. are shown on maps for easy comprehension.

e. Historical Maps show boundaries, of the empires, routes taken by travelers, places of war, treaties, etc.

Map reading skills should be taught to students. Some significant aspects of map reading skills are: symbols of places; location of places – longitude, latitude; different physical features – land form, water form; human factors; climate and resources; distances; transportation.