CHAPTER 6: USING AND EVALUATING INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

There are two guidelines for the effective use of instructional materials— selection and usage.

Selection of instructional materials:

It is where you consider the clarity, meaningfulness, learnability, economy, and utility of the instructional materials.

The guide questions are:

•          Do the materials give a true picture of the ideas they present? To avoid misconceptions, it is always good to ask when the materials were produced.

•          Do the materials contribute meaningful content to the topic under study? Does the material help you achieve the instructional objective?

•          Is the material appropriate for the intelligence and experience of the learners?

•          Is the physical condition of the material satisfactory? An example, is a photograph properly mounted?

•          Is there a teacher’s guide to provide a briefing for effective use? The chance that the instructional material will be used to the maximum and to the optimum is increased with a teacher’s guide.

• Can the materials in question help to make students better thinkers and develop their critical faculties? With exposure to mass media, it is highly important that we maintain and strengthen our national powers.

•          Is the material worth the time, expense and effort involved? A field trip, for instance, requires much time, effort and money. Is it more effective than any other less expensive and less demanding instructional material that can take its place? Or is there a better substitute?

Usage of the instructional materials:

After selecting an instructional material, you should think how to utilize it effectively. Hayden Smith and Thomas Nagel advise us to abide by the acronym PPPF in order to ensure the effective use of instructional materials.

Prepare yourself- you should plan your lessons ahead of time to prepare and to think what instructional materials should be used to suit the lesson.

Prepare your students- setting class expectation and learning goals. To keep them engaged and interested, the teacher should give the students guide questions. Therefore, the students are being motivated to participate in class discussions.

Present the materials- you should rehearse how to use the materials in order to have an organize and a clean performance. This prevents having the R.O.G. Syndrome (running out of gas) which usually results from poor planning.

Follow up- your lesson should not stop in presenting the materials. You should explain it further for them to understand the lesson. Remember, instructional materials should be used to achieve the objectives, not to merely entertain the class.