Lesson 13 Visual Symbols

- are representations of direct reality, which comes in the form of signs and symbols.

Kinds of Visual Symbols

• Drawings
• Sketches
• Cartoons
• Comics or Strip Drawings
• Diagrams
• Charts
• Graphs
• Maps

Drawings and Sketches

• These are crude and simple lines, which are effective in showing what needs to be shown with sufficient clarity, to make the meaning vivid to learners or students. They are drawings with no illusion of depth but a smart teacher can use them in a very effective way in explaining and showing ideas and concepts.

Cartoons

• Cartoons tell stories metaphorically through pictures, which need no captions. Symbolism conveys messages, less words more symbolism the better. The cartoon presents a certain issue or concern which could be either for or against it. It is a pictorial representation or caricature of a person, idea, situation or issue that is designed to influence public opinion. Therefore cartoons must be presented in a challenging manner. For better understanding they should be drawn around a single idea.

Strip Drawing or Comic Strip

• Strip drawings are recommended for their story value in adaptation of the classics. They are effective in instruction not only because they are simple, clear and easy to read but because they deal with materials that has been made personal. Comics is a form of cartooning in which the same cast of characters form a story in sequence of closely related drawings, designed to entertain the readers. They are usually enjoyed by elementary pupils as well as secondary students because of their simplicity, attractiveness, color and relevant plot. The uses of super heroes or fantasy themes add interest to the learners. Thus the use of the comic strip in facilitating instruction must be used to the maximum.

Poster 

• A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface.

Diagrams

• Diagrams are simplified drawings designed to show interrelationship primarily by means of lines and symbols. They are used to explain rather than to represent. It is a drawing that shows arrangement and relationship, as parts to a whole, relative values, origins and developments, chronological flow, fluctuations and distributions. The diagram is used to condense visual summaries of facts; the ideas rely heavily on symbolic means. However it must be remembered that it is more effective if it has a strong foundation because it works better for summarizing rather then introducing a lesson. It can be used singly but it is better if it is used simultaneously with other materials.

Charts

• Charts are graphic or pictorial representations of a large mass of information or show progression thru time and space of people or events, ideas and objects.

Kinds of charts and examples:

1. Data chart – contains items of information pf all sorts especially quantitative data.

2. Pictorial chart – use relevant pictures to present data or information on quantifiable data over a specific period or condition.

3. Schematic chart – shows a principle or a law as applied like that of refrigeration

4. Diagrammatic chart – verb chart is popular example

5. Multiple leaf chart – internal working parts of a machine

6. Phantom view chart – shows hidden parts of a machine without obliterating the outer parts

7. Development or progress chart – profile of a place or a person

8. Table chart – bus trips

9. Time and tabular chart – presidents and their term of office

10. Stream or tree chart – family tree

11. Flow or organizational chart – school personnel chart, life cycle of a frog or the water cycle.

Graphs

• Graphs present quantitative data for easier analysis and interpretation. It shows comparative relationship of data involved in size, trends and growth. Graphs are best used in developing and in summarizing a unit.

Kinds of graphs

1. Line graph – is the most accurate of all graphs used in plotting trends of relationships between two series of data. It is used when there is a considerable number of data to be plotted and if these data are continuous

2. Bar graphs – simplest of all graphs to read. They are represented either by vertical or horizontal bars. The lengths of the bars represent an amount or percentage data. It is best when number of values to be compared is small.

3. Circle or pie graph – the sections of which are used to represent component parts of a whole. They always present total amounts, their parts or segments are calculated in percentage or fractional parts of a whole.

4. Area or Solid graphs – use for the simplest quantitative comparison thru the use of geometric shapes. It is used to compare two or three related totals.

5. Pictorial Statistics or pictograph – it makes use of related pictures in showing quantitative data. Pictures give realism and interest so it is widely used specially in the elementary grades.

Maps

• Maps are usually shown on flat surface and are used to represent the surface of the earth or some parts of it, showing the relative size and position according to scale or projection and position represented.

Maps according to content

a. Physical map – also called relief maps, they are the best because of their three dimensional representation; which includes geographical outline of land and water. Commercial or economic maps- also known as product or industrial map since they show land area in relation to the economy.

b. Political map – shows national boundaries down to the smallest division 

Maps according to form

a. Chalkboard outline map

b. Student outline maps

c. Projected maps 

d. Wall maps (decorative maps)

e. Atlas – collection of maps

f. Sand table map

g. Pictorial maps

Lesson 10: Demonstration in Teaching

- What does demonstration mean?
- How should demonstration be done to make it work?

Like role-playing and pantomime of the dramatized experience, demonstration is also something very handy. It requires no elaborate preparation and yet as effective as the other instructional materials when done properly.

Demonstration

(According to Webster’s International Dictionary)
I is define as, “A public showing emphasizing the salient merits, utility, efficiency, etc, of an article or product…”
In teaching it is showing how thing is done and emphasizing of the salient merits, utility and efficiency of a concept, a method or a process or an attitude.

Guiding Principles

(Edgar Dale 1969)

1.Establish rapport 

•Greet your audience.
•Make them feel at ease by your warmth and sincerity.
•Stimulate their interest by making your demonstration and yourself interesting.
•Sustain their attention.

2. Avoid COIK fallacy (Clear Only If Known)    
- What is this fallacy? It is the assumption that what is clear to the expert demonstrator is also clearly known to the person for whom the message is intended.
- To avoid the fallacy, it is best for the expert demonstrator to assume that his audience knows nothing or a little about what he is intending to demonstrate for him to be very thorough, clear detailed in his demonstration even to a point of facing the risk of being repetitive.

     Planning and Preparing For Demonstration

(Brown(1969)

1. What are our objectives?
2. How does your class stand with respect to these objectives. This is to determine entry knowledge and skills of your students.
3. Is there a better way to achieve your ends? If there is a more effective way to attain your purpose, then replace the demonstration method with the more effective one.
4.Do you have access to all the necessary materials and equipment to make the demonstration? Have a checklist of necessary equipment and material. This may include written materials.
5.Are you familiar with the sequence and content of the purposed demonstration? Outline the steps and rehearse your demonstration.
6. Are the time limits realistic?

      Point to Observe in the Demonstration Dale (1969)
   1.Set the tone for good communication. Get and keep your audience’s interest.
2.Keep your demonstration simple.
3.Do not wander from main ideas.
4.Check to see that your demonstration is being understood. Watch your audience for signs of bewilderment, boredom, or disagreement.
5.Do not hurry your demonstration. Asking questions to check understanding can serve as a “brake”.
6.Do not drag out demonstration. Interesting things are never dragged out. They create their own tempo.
7.Summarize as you go along and provide a concluding summary. Use chalkboard, the overhead projector, charts diagrams, PowerPoint and whatever other materials are appropriate to synthesize your demonstration.
8.Hand out written materials at the conclusion.
       
       Questions to Evaluate Classroom Demonstration (Dale 1969)
- Was your demonstration adequately and skillfully prepared? Did you select demonstrable skills or ideas? Were the desired behavioral outcomes clear?
- Did you follow the step-by-step plan? Did you make use of additional material appropriate to your purposes- chalkboard, felt board, pictures, charts, diagrams, models, overhead transparencies, or slides?
- Was the demonstration itself correct? Was your explanation simple enough so that most of the students understood it easily?
- Did you keep checking to see that all your students were concentrating on what you were doing?
- Could every person see and hear? If a skill was demonstrated for imitation, was it presented from the physical point of view of the learner?
- Did you held students do their own generalizing?
- Did you take enough time to demonstrate the key points?
- Did you review and summarize the key points?
- Did your students participate in what you were doing by asking thoughtful questions at the appropriate time?
-Did your evaluation of student learning indicate that your demonstration achieved its purpose?

       Summary:
      Good Demonstration is a an audio-visual presentation. It is not enough that the teacher talks. To be effective, his/her demonstration must be accompanied by some visuals.

      Actual Conduct of Demonstration       

1. Get and sustain the interest of the audience
2. Keep the demonstration simple, focused and clear 
3. Do not hurry nor drag out the demonstration
4. Check for understanding in the process of demonstration
5. Conclude with a summary
6. Hand out written material at the end of the demonstration

Lesson 9: Dramatized Experience

Dramatic is something that is stirring, affecting or moving.

Dramatic Entrance is something that catches and holds attention, and has emotional impacts.

Dramatized Experiences can range from:

• Formal Plays
• Pageants
• Tableau
• Pantomime
• Puppets
• Role-playing 

Plays depict life, character, culture, or a combination of the three. They offer excellent opportunities to portray vividly important ideas about life. Teaching with dramatized Experiences

Pageants are usually community dramas that are based on local history. An example is a historical pageant that traces the growth of a school.

Pantomime is an “art of conveying a story through bodily movements.” The effects of pantomime to the audience depends on the movements of the actors.

Tableau is a picture-like scene composed of people against a background.

Role-Playing is an unrehearsed, unprepared and spontaneous dramatization of a situation where assigned participants are absorbed by their own roles.

Puppets - A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. Puppets can present ideas with extreme simplicity.

Types of Puppets

Shadow puppets – flat, black silhouette made from lightweight cardboard shown behind a screen.

Rod puppets – flat, cut-out figures tacked to a stick with one or more movable parts, and are operated below the stage through wires or rods.

Glove-and-finger puppets – make use of gloves which small costumed figures are attached.

Marionettes – flexible, jointed puppets operated by strings or wires attached to a cross bar and maneuvered from directly above the stage. 

Lesson 8: Teaching with Contrived Experiences

Contrived experiences

•      These are the edited copies of reality and are used as substitutes for real things when it is not practical or possible to bring or do the real thing in the classroom.
•      Designed to stimulate real life situations

Contrived Experiences

- Model

- Mock up

- Specimen

- Simulation

- Object

- Game

Model 

• A reproduction of a real thing in a small scale, or a large scale or exact size- but made of synthetic materials. It is a substitute for a real thing which may or may not operational –Brown, et. al, 1969                          

Mock up   

• An arrangement of a real device or associated devices, displayed in such way that representation of reality is created. 
• An Special model where the parts of a model are singled out, heightened and magnified in order to focus on that part or process under study.

Example:

  Planetarium

Specimen
Any individual or item considered typically of a group, class, or whole.

Object

• May also include artifacts displayed in a museum or objective displayed in exhibits or preserved insect specimens in science

Simulation

• A representation of a manageable real event in which the learner is an active participant engage in learning a behavior or in applying previously acquired skills or knowledge  -Orlich et. al, 1994
• Another instructional material included in contrived experiences is game

Games  are use in any of these purposes

1. To practice and/or to refine knowledge/skills already acquired
2. To identify gaps and weaknesses in knowledge or skills
3. To serve as a summation or review
4. To develop new relationships among concepts and principles

Why do we make use of contrived experiences?

1. Overcome limitations of space and time
2. To edit reality for us to be able to focus on parts or process of a system that we intend to study. 
3. To overcome difficulties of size 
4. To understand the inaccessible
5. Help the learners understand abstraction

Ten general purposes of simulations and games

1. To develop changes in attitudes
2. To change specific behaviors
3. To prepare participants for assuming new roles in the future
4. To help individuals understand their current roles
5. To increase the students’ ability to apply principles
6. To reduce complex problems or situations to manageable elements
7. To illustrate roles that may affect one’s life but that one may never assume
8. To motivate learners
9. To develop analytical processes
10. To sensitize individuals to another person’s life role

Lesson 7: Direct Purposeful Experiences and Beyond

"From the rich experiences that our senses bring, we can construct ideas, the concepts, the generalization that give meaning and order to our lives."

DIRECT PURPOSEFUL EXPERIENCES AND BEYOND

These are our concrete and first hand experiences that make up the foundation of our learning.

DIRECT PURPOSEFUL EXPERIENCES AND BEYOND

•These are the rich experiences that our senses bring from which we construct the ideas, the concepts, the generalizations that give meaning and order to our lives. (Dale, 1969) 

DIRECT PURPOSEFUL EXPERIENCES AND BEYOND

•They are the sensory experiences.

Example of Direct Purposeful Activities

•Preparing meals or snacks.

•Making a piece of furniture.

•Performing a laboratory experiment.

•Delivering a speech.

•Taking a trip.

In contrast, indirect experiences are experience of other… people that we observe, read or hear about. They are not our experiences but still experiences in the sense that we see, read and hear about them. They are not first hand but rather vicarious.

WHY ARE THESE DIRECT EXPERIENCES DESCRIBED TO BE PURPOSEFUL?

•They are experiences that are internalized in the sense that these experiences involve the asking of questions that have significance in the life of the person undergoing the direct experience.

WHY ARE THESE DIRECT EXPERIENCES DESCRIBED TO BE PURPOSEFUL?

•These experiences are undergone in relation to a purpose, i.e. learning

•It is done in relation to a certain learning objective.

John Dewey has made his fundamental point succinctly: “An ounce of experience is better than a ton of theory because it is only in experience that a theory has vital and verifiable significance. An experience, a very humble experience, is capable of generating and carrying an amount of theory (or intellectual content), but a theory apart from experience cannot be definitely grasped as a theory. It tends to render thinking, or genuine theorizing unnecessary and impossible”

WHAT DOES DIRECT, PURPOSEFUL EXPERIENCE IMPLY TO THE TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS?

1. Let us give our students opportunities to learn by doing. Let us immerse our students in the world of experience.

2. Let us make use of real things as instructional materials for as long as we can.

3. Let us help our students develop the five senses to the full to heighten their sensitivity to the world.

4. Let us guide our students so that they can draw meaning from their first hand experiences and elevate their level of thinking.