Anil: Methods and Strategies of Teaching Social Science

Methods and Strategies of teaching social science

A teacher has to make use of various kinds of methods, devices and techniques of teaching.A teacher has to make use of a suitable method for making his teaching meaningful, purposeful, interesting and effective. A good method of teaching can bring out good results even from a weak curriculum.On the other hand a bad method of teaching can make a mess of a good curriculum. Therefore,it can rightly be said that success or failure of teaching depends on its methods. The methods of teaching should be according to the needs and interests of learners.

Characteristics of a good teaching method

o It should provide a group of related experiences and activities, arranged on an individual as well as group basis.

o It should give scope for the creative expression of the child’s individuality.

o It should rouse a large range of interest in the minds of the students.

o It should shift emphasis from verbalism and memorization to learning through purposeful, concrete and realistic situations.

o It should train the students in the techniques of self-study and the methods of acquiring knowledge through personal effort or intuition.

o It should stimulate the desire for further study and explorations.

o It should awaken an interest in the materials and techniques used by social scientists.

Factors which determine the selection of a teaching method

§ The nature of the child

§ The objectives of instruction

§ The nature of the subject matter

§ Class room environment

§ Expertise of the teacher who adopts a method

Different Methods of Teaching Social Science

a) LECTURE METHOD

“simply means teaching through lecture”

Ø Teacher explains the matter in simple and understandable manner.

Ø The method is particularly used in the secondary classes and above.

Ø This method can be used to motivate students,to clarify, to review and to expand contents.

Ø Lecture method is for imparting authentic,systematic and effective information about some events and trends

Ø It gives the students training in listening

Ø It develops good audience habits

Ø It provides opportunities of correlating events and subjects

Ø It enables the linkage of previous knowledge with the new one

Merits

§ A well prepared and a well delivered lecture can make social studies interesting

§ Lecture gives the teacher an opportunity to come into immediate contact with the pupils

§ Lecture gives the pupils training in in listening and taking rapid notes

§ Lecture saves time and energy

§ Good lectures stimulate brighter student

§ It facilitate rapport between the teacher and the taught

§ It is more useful for brilliant students

§ It helps the implementation of others

Demerits

· Makes students inactive

· There is a very little scope for pupil activity

· May include irrelevant material

· Discourage self-effort by the students

· Every teacher is not expert enough to deliver lecture

· The pupil lose opportunity to make self-study

· Lecture can soon result in monotony

· Lecturing is against the principle of ‘ learning by doing’

· An average students may not be able to fix up their attention to a lecture of 40-45 minutes

b)PROBLEM SOLVING METHOD

Ø ‘How we think’ reflects this approach

Ø In this method the learner is required to solve a problem, making use of his previous knowledge.

Ø According to Dewey ‘the problem fixes the end of thought and the end controls the process of thinking’

Criteria for problem selection

· The problem should be intellectually challenging to children.

· The problem should not be entirely unfamiliar to the learners it should be related to their previous experience

· The problem should be related to a basic human activity

· The problem should have practical relevance

· The problem should have the potential to create interest among in the specific problem in particular and problem solving in general

MERITS

a. It serves as a preparation for adult life

b. It develops the power for critical thinking

c. It makes pupil active recipient of knowledge

d. It develops values of tolerance and open mindedness

e. It helps for the easy assimilation of knowledge

f. It helps to establish harmonious relations between teacher and pupils

DEMERITS

o This method will become monotonous if used too frequently

o The problem solving method can easily lead to the selection of trivial and untimely topics

o This is appropriate for developing cognitive competencies,but not for bringing about affective changes

c) PROJECT METHOD

Project method is based upon the ideas of the great American educationalist, Mr. John Deway. The credit of developing these ideas into a method goes to Mr. William Kilpatrick.According to him ‘A project is a whole hearted purposeful activity,proceeding in a social environment’

According to Stevenson : “A project is a problematic act carried to completion in its natural setting”.

According to Deway, Children should be given education to satisfy their needs of life and the school should function like a mini society in which and through the students would acquire education by engaging themselves in a variety of group projects nothing is forced upon children .The teacher acts only as a guide.

Steps in project method

1. Providing a situation

2. Choosing the project

3. Planning the project

4. Executing the project

5. Evaluation of the project

Merits

Ø It gives freedom to children

Ø It enable the children to learn from their own experience

Ø It is free from the defects of the text book method

Ø It is a natural method of acquiring knowledge

Ø It gives training in social adjustment

Ø It gives training in democratic way of living

Ø It trains the children in solving problems

Ø It helps the teacher to understand his pupils

Demerits

Ø It hampers the completion of syllabus

Ø There is a possibility of giving more importance to less importance

Ø It may lead to unsystematic learning

Ø It may lead to monopolization by some students

Ø It may disturb the school working system

Ø It increases work loard of teachers

Ø It is an expensive method

d)Source Method

Source method is that method of teaching in which original sources of information are used to explain a point or variety a fact or establish a principle or describe an event.This method involves activity on the parts of the teachers as well as pupils.

Sourcemethod can be used in the beginning of the lesson to motivate the pupils. While teaching the topic Mugalempire,he may show them the pictures of Red fort, Tajmahal or Juma masjid

This method can be used during the course of the lesson to develop it and correlate the facts events or principles involved in the lesson.

Merits

· It develops a sense of vividness and reality

· It can satisfy the curiosity among children on the question

· The original sources serve as an effective means for creating a right type of atmosphere

· The use of sources provides certain useful mental exercises

· The method initiates the pupils in research

· It supplement classroom lesson

· It promotes the interest in the study of the subject

· It initiates the students in social studies research

Demerits

· The method is too complex and technical

· It is not always possible for the teacher of school to have easy access to the sources

· Use of sources is not easy for the teachers and they are not trained in their use

· The source method of teaching social studies is time consuming

· The source method of teaching social studies is very expensive

e) Supervised Study Method

Arthur C Binning and David H Binning describe that “by supervised study we mean the supervision by the teacher of a group or class of pupils as they work at their desk or around their tables”

v teacher is always ready to direct and aid them

v supervised study emphasis individual attention

v provide better pupil teacher relation

v development of skills

Main developed skills are……….

1. Skill as to how to read social studies material

2. Skill as to how to use encyclopedias

3. Skill as to how to use dictionaries

4. Skill as to how to use maps atlases,indexes and almanacs.

5. Skillas to how to read graphs

Limitations

v Destroys the supremacy of teachers

v As they play a secondary role in the teaching learning process

v It is a costly method

v bright people is not helped under this method and in some cases is even hindered by the method

v It requires the lengthened school day,which is not possible due to various pressures of co-curricular activities.

f) Dramatization Method

Dramatization has been described as a ‘synthetic art’,involving the purposive co-ordination and control of the delicate organs of speech and muscles of the body combined with a sense of rhythm, with a view to free and intelligent expression of emotions and ideas.

· Drama has its great social value.

· It is a co -operative enterprise and develops the qualities of co-operation and social understanding

· There are many activities in a drama,and as such students of diverse aptitudes get chance to choose items for which they are best suited and satisfy their urges, e.g.: self-expression through the various activities of a drama

Selection of play

o Plays chosen should depict the evils of the social customs

o A play should have a literary value also

o The students should be able to understand and appreciate the play

o It should also have entertainment value

o It should be free from objectional subject matter

o There should be no vulgarity in the play

F Debate

§ A debate is a programme in which two or more students holding contradictory opinions on a particular problem present arguments

§ They are also given an opportunity to rebut the opposite side.

§ After this ,the rest of the class is encouraged to ask question from the debaters or engage in a brief discussion with them

§ A debate has a moderator in order to get significant results, the teacher should work both with the debaters and the class

Merits

· It helps in clarifying issues

· It develop team spirit

· It provides opportunities to the students to speak distinctly

· It engenders toleration of views which are at variance

Demerits

Ø Not suitable for all topics

Ø It may create emotional tensions

Ø It may lead to unpleasant feelings

Ø It is likely to dominated by a few students

Ø It is likely to go off the track

g) Role Play

§ Role playing can be defined as an attempt to make a situation clear or to solve a problem by uncharged dramatization

§ Role playing is the dramatization of an event or a situation or a process

§ Role playing is dealing with problem through actions

§ A role is a patterned sequence of feeling words and actions

Purpose of role playing

§ To motivate or launch units

§ To culminate units

§ To change attitudes

§ To teach values

§ To teach content having to do with human relationship

§ To develop citizenship skill by showing both the successful and unsuccessful methods

Conducting role playing

I. Preparing

Ø Preparing for role playing

Ø Selecting the players

Ø Preparing the audience

Ø Preparing the players

II. Playing of the roles

Ø Keep the role playing short

Ø Let the pupils play it out

Ø Do not evaluate the acting language

Ø Do not allow evidence to interrupt

III. Following up the enactment

Ø Discussion

Ø Re-enactment

Advantages

o Develop deep understanding

o Developing problem solving skill and attitudes

o Explore subject matter in varied ways

o Develop interpersonal communication

Disadvantages

· Pupils who are not well prepared for role playing may not take it seriously

· Role playing will not work unless the atmosphere in the classroom is supportive

· Pupils find it difficult to enter the roles properly,especially if they are not well briefed on the assignments

· Role playing does not always take the direction one hopes

· Role playing is time consuming

· For role playing to work well, one needs a group of sensitive,imaginative,open minded pupils who know each other well enough to be at case with each other.

Co-operative Learning

Is an approach to organize classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences. It differs from group work, and it has been described as "structuring positive interdependence.

Cooperative Learning involves structuring classes around small groups that work together in such a way that each group member's success is dependent on the group's success.

Why Use Cooperative Learning

ü Students who engage in cooperative learning learn significantly more, remember it longer, and develop better critical-thinking skills than their counterparts in traditional lecture classes.

ü Students enjoy cooperative learning more than traditional lecture classes, so they are more likely to attend classes and finish the course.

ü Cooperative learning helps students develop the skills necessary to work on projects too difficult and complex for any one person to do in a reasonable amount of time.

ü Cooperative learning processes prepare students to assess outcomes linked to accreditation

Definition: Cooperative learning

v Is a method of instruction that has students working together in groups, usually with the goal of completing a specific task.

v This method can help students develop leadership skills and the ability to work with others as a team.

v However, gifted students are often placed in groups with non-gifted children, sometimes with the goal of having the gifted student help the others, either directly or by example.

v In these instances, the gifted student is not likely to learn anything new, while the non-gifted students are not likely to develop any leadership skills.

Collaborative Learning

· Collaborative learning is a situation in which two or more people learn or attempt to learn something together

· Unlike individual learning, people engaged in collaborative learning capitalize on one another’s resources and skills,asking one another for information, evaluating one another’s ideas, monitoring one another’s work, etc..

· More specifically, collaborative learning is based on the model that knowledge can be created within a population where members actively interact by sharing experiences and take on asymmetry roles.

Multi media Approach

Multimedia refers to content that uses a combination of differentcontent forms. This contrasts with media that use only rudimentary computer displays such as text-only or traditional forms of printed or hand-produced material.

Importance

§ Multimedia includes a combination of text, audio, still images, animation,video, or interactivity content forms

§ Multimedia approach uses a number of media, devices, and techniques in the teaching learning process.

§ Multimedia approach can convey vast information and provide many sources from which student can access the information

§ Multimedia approach will improve the teaching learning process.

§ Multimedia approach is not restricted to a single type of learning style. It can provide the support of a wide range of activities.

§ Multimedia approach aims at providing meaningful learning experience via a mix of media in order to achieve predetermined objectives.

§ Multimedia approach provides the opportunity to gain mastery of competencies and skills

Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Enabled Learning

ICT is often used as an extended synonym for information technology(IT), but is a more specific term that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications, computers as well as necessary enterprise software, middleware, storage, and audio-visual systems, which enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information.

The role of ICT in education is to empower the technology into present educational activities. ICT allows open source learning rather than manual source, hence encouraging students to learn new ideas. ICT also brings about active learning, collaborative, creative, integrative and evaluative aspects to the education sector.

DEFINITION

Information Communication Technology (ICT) is a generic name used to describe a range of technologies for gathering, storing, retrieving, processing, analysing, and transmitting information

General benefits;

Ø Greater efficiency throughout the school.

Ø Communication channels are increased through email, discussion groups and chat rooms.

Ø Regular use of ICT across different curriculum subjects can have a beneficial motivational influence on students’ learning.

Benefits for Teachers

· ICT facilitates sharing of resources, expertise and advice

· Greater flexibility in when and where tasks are carried out

· Gains in ICT literacy skills, confidence and enthusiasm.

· Easier planning and preparation of lessons and designing materials

· Access to up-to-date pupil and school data, any time and anywhere.

· Enhancement of professional image projected to colleagues.

· Students are generally more ‘on task’ and express more positive feelings when they use computers than when they are given other tasks to do.

· Computer use during lessons motivated students to continue using learning outside school hours.

Benefits for Students

· Higher quality lessons through greater collaboration between teachers in planning and preparing resources .

· Improved pastoral care and behaviour management through better tracking of students

· Gains in understanding and analytical skills, including improvements in reading comprehension.

· Encouragement of independent and active learning, and self-responsibility for learning.

· Flexibility of ‘anytime, anywhere’ access

· increased self-confidence and self-esteem

· Students found learning in a technology-enhanced setting more stimulating and student-centred than in a traditional classroom.

· Opportunities to address their work to an external audience

· Opportunities to collaborate on assignments with people outside or inside school

The use of ICTs help improve the quality of education

ICTs can enhance the quality of education in several ways: by increasing learner motivation and engagement by facilitating the acquisition of basic skills, and by enhancing teacher training. ICTs are also transformational tools which, when used appropriately, can promote the shift to a learner-centered environment.

· Motivating to learn. ICTs such as videos, television and multimedia computer software that combine text, sound, and colorful, moving images can be used to provide challenging and authentic content that will engage the student in the learning process. Interactive radio likewise makes use of sound effects, songs, dramatizations, comic skits, and other performance conventions to compel the students to listen and become involved in the lessons being delivered.

· Facilitating the acquisition of basic skills. The transmission of basic skills and concepts that are the foundation of higher order thinking skills and creativity can be facilitated by ICTs through drill and practice.

· Enhancing teacher training. ICTs have also been used to improve access to and the quality of teacher training.

Disadvantages of ICT

Ø One of the major barriers for the cause of ICT not reaching its full potential in the foundation stage is teacher’s attitude.

Ø According to Hara (2004), within the early years education attitudes towards ICT can vary considerably. Some see it as a potential tool to aid learning whereas others seem to disagree with the use of technology in early year settings.

Ø Blatchford and Whitebread (2003:16), suggests that the use of ICT in the foundation stage is “unhealthy and hinders learning”.

Ø Other early years educators who are opposed to offering ICT experiences within the educational settings take a less extreme view than this and suggest that ICT is fine, but there are other more vital experiences that young children will benefit from, (Blatchford and Whitebread, 2003).

Ø In theory some people may have the opinion that the teachers who had not experienced ICT throughout their learning tend to have a negative attitude towards it, as they may lack the training in that area of the curriculum.

Ø Another important drawback to using ICT in schools is the fact that computers are expensive.

Ø According to the IT learning exchange (2001), in most schools ICT will be the single largest curriculum budget cost. This may be seen as a good thing but on the other hand there will be little money left over for other significant costs.

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