Techno -pedagogical competency

 

 Techno -pedagogical competency (adapted)

Pedagogy refers 'Science and Arts of teach- ing'. The word  'Techno' is  derived from Latin word 'Texere' which means 'weave or construct'. Techno pedagogy can be referred to the weaving of techniques of teaching into the learning environment itself (Gloria, 2014). 

Techno -pedagogical competency is the ability of teachers to make use of technology effectively in teaching.  

There are many faculty members who still continue to teach through old, boring, uninteresting lecture method. Now it is the time to increase the  efficiency and ability of the teachers  by using technology. The teachers should take care that the  teaching in the class should not be boring or dull or tiresome . Instead, it should be vast-open, interesting, creative and should provide a new meaningful environment. It  is  possible if the faculty

 1) uses different technology techniques or kinds of media to enrich the academic excellence of the student 

2)   integrates  techno pedagogical skills along with content knowledge.  

So it is expected to increase and integrate techno pedagogical skills along with the content knowledge to raise the growth and achievement of the students, which in turn will help the teacher to be updated and motivated.

There are three areas of knowledge in techno-pedagogy, namely: content, pedagogy, and technology. 

Influence of Techno-Pedagogy through TPACK

Nowadays, teachers are in great need of technical teaching ability in guiding and preparing for learning because it encourages feasible education and learning. Technical teaching ability is nothing more than a teacher's ability to effectively use creative ability in teaching. At that time, teachers can build technical teaching ability; they can try to use this ability frequently in teaching, which in turn will make the learning process basic and feasible. In technical pedagogy, information includes three areas, in particular, substance, guidance method, and innovation.(i)The content is the topic to be directed(ii)Technology includes advanced innovative technologies such as computers, the Web, advanced video and computing projectors, writing pads, and ordinary advances in books(iii)Pedagogy describes the collected disciplines, forms, techniques, strategies, and instruction and learning strategies. In addition, it contains information about teaching, assessment, and student learning 

Innovative integration methods in instructive teaching innovative teaching methods and material information (TPACK) are essentially technology-centric . The integration of technology in teacher teaching is largely influenced by this method. 

Figure 1 

Technology pedagogy and content knowledge (TPACK)

TPACK combines the introduction of the concept of using technology:

•  information about the useful use of innovation to guide substance,
•  information about complex or encouraging learning concepts, and 
• information about ways that innovation can help to help understand troublesome topics and relevant information and innovate the information that is used. 

The TPACK system is the complex exchange of three essential shapes of information:

•  content knowledge (CK), 
• pedagogical knowledge (PK), and
•  technology knowledge (TK). 

The TPACK approach goes past seeing these three information bases in segregation. The TPACK system goes advance by emphasizing the sorts of information that lie at the convergences between three essential shapes: pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), technological content knowledge (TCK), technological pedagogical knowledge (TPK), and technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) .

DIGITAL NATIVES and DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS ; TODAY'S TEACHER - DIGITAL NATIVE - CHALLENGES

 

• Teacher should be smarter than the students in technological issues
• Effective  teacher can address the various social and emotional issues that can affect learners' learning
• Teacher can make changes when the learning seems to be going ineffective. 
• The teacher has a responsibility to help promote learning preconditions such as working habits, attitudes, knowledge and motivation. 
• Thinking through various teaching methods and assessing which possibilities they offer for learning is not just important, but also challenging for the teacher.

RECENT RESEARCHES IN SCIENCE LEARNING WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS TO INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES AND ASSESSMENT PRACTICES

 RECENT RESEARCHES IN SCIENCE LEARNING WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS TO INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES AND ASSESSMENT PRACTICES

Recent researches in instructional strategies 

1. Edutainment learning strategy

2. Gilly salmon's five stage model of e-learning

3. Blended learning strategy

4. Fish bowl learning strategy

5. 7E learning cycle

6. Brain based learningBr ai n-B ase d L e arni ng The  ‘Dec a de  of  t he  B ra in’ spa wne d a  m ul t i t ude  of brai n re se a rc h a nd e duc a ti ona l

7. Problem based learning

8. Cooperative learning

Recent researches in Assessment Practices 

1. Rubrics

2. Portfolio Assessment

3. Self Assessment

4. Peer Assessment

5. Online Assessment

INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE and SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE - DIFFERENCES

 

INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE and SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL MODULE - DIFFERENCES

Instructional module 

1. It has specific learning goal.

2. It is a self contained unit.

3. It contains information material for students and groups, multimedia learning experience.

                                            Self - instructional module

1. Learner can study at his own pace. 

2. It is a way to learn a new topic based on students interest

3. It can be treated similar to a guide for learning.

CRITICAL PEDAGOGY and ISSUE BASED LEARNING

 CRITICAL PEDAGOGY and ISSUE BASED LEARNING

Critical Pedagogy is the theory of PAULO FREIRE.

 It envisages an educational system capable of transforming the world - 

where people get involved in social issues, 

analyse them critically, 

discuss them in a democratic atmosphere and

 achieve a deepened awareness of socio-cultural reality that shapes their life. 

According to Freire, when students think critically about their educational situation, they will be able to find connection between individual problems and experiences with the social context in which they live. 

Freire stresses the importance of LIBERATING EDUCATION.

'PRAXIS' is the power and knowledge to take action against oppression. Praxis involves engaging  in a cycle of theory, application, evaluation, reflection and then back to theory. 

The first step of praxis is 'conscientisation' , which is realising ones consciousness. 

Social transformation is the product of praxis at collective level. 

Steps in Critical Pedagogy

Critical Pedagogy develops through a sequence of six steps:

1. CONTEXT  

This tells about the background of the students. Educator must know each student -his/her family, social status, financial condition, culture, religious belief etc.

2. VOCABULARY

This tells about the volume of vocabulary possessed by each student. The educator must know the vocabulary of each student including their pronunciation, colloquial usage, slang etc.

3. CODIFICATION

This tells about the codification of words or usages possessed by the student. The educator must know the vocabulary possessed by the student with its coded meaning - a word may have different meaning in different localities and places.

4. DE-CODIFICATION

This tells about the codification of words and themes possessed by students, as being part of a culture, the educators must be aware of their influence on the child - listened words can create images in the mind. 

5. DIALOGUE

This narrates the dialogue mode of learning , which builds upon dialogue between persons. This approach helps all learners to be active in learning process , contributing their share of knowledge. The educators must set a free learning atmosphere to help learners express themselves. In this setup, the students are co-investigator with the teacher and each one in the group teach others. 

6. PRAXIS

This is 'action'. The dialogue mode of learning helps one to gain new knowledge and this knowledge inturn leads to actions. 

ISSUE BASED LEARNING

By incorporating the ideas put forward by Freire, a problem based approach is being introduced in the school curriculum in Kerala. There are eight major issues to be dealt in as the bases for classroom transactions. They are : 

• lack of vision as a universal citizen
• lack of development of work competency
• lack of awareness of cultural heritage and independence
• state of negligence towards agricultural heritage
• lack of scientific perspective on  public health
• negligence to the marginalised sections
• lack of scientific land and water management

Role of teachers in issue based classroom.

                       In issue based class room, teachers should set the objectives in accordance with the issues highlighted in the chapters. 

The  activities should be chosen, considering the individual differences of the learner. 

The teacher makes sure s/he understands the students' preexisting conceptions and guides activities , focusing on construction of knowledge 

        Teacher deliberately inculcate cooperative learning skills such as sharing, helping others learn, contributing ideas, and leadership skill for effective social life.

        Teacher should organise  group activities and ensure that  learning environment is comfortable.

CURRICULUM

 CURRICULUM

The word 'curriculum' is derived from the Latin word 'currere' , which means 'to run'.

Curriculum means race course/ course of study / course which one  runs for reaching a goal.

Definition

Cunningham : Curriculum is a tool in the hands of an artist (the teacher) to mould his material (the pupil) according to his ideal (objective) in his studio (school). 

Principles;

Principle of 

1. child centeredness

2. community centeredness

3. activity centeredness

4. forward looking

5. Renewal 

Curriculum Development

It involves the following basic elements:

1. Analysis

Set goals for school programs

2. Design

Plan exercises for school programs

3. Implementation

Select and implement content for school programs

4. Evaluation

Assess outcomes of school programs 

Curriculum and Syllabus

Curriculum is a broad term.

It  encompasses all the experiences gained by learners in a school.   

Curriculum considers fullest development of the personality of the individual . 

Scope of syllabus is narrow and limited. 

It  is the outline of the course. 

It gives the specific details of the study, the hierarchical order of presenting the content etc. 

  Syllabus  is a part of the curriculum.

Philosophy of Science curriculum

Popular schools of philosophy are Idealism, Pragmatism, Naturalism and Realism. The basic elements of these schools of philosophy differ in their aims of education, content, role of teacher &  method of instruction. Philosophy of science curriculum can evolve only by understanding the product and process nature of science. The process of knowing and  the knowledge used in the process of knowing are equally important. 

Philosophy of science deals with four basic questions:

What characteristics distinguish scientific inquiry from other types of investigation?

What procedure should scientists follow in investigating nature?

What conditions must be satisfied for a scientific explanation to be correct?

What is the cognitive status of scientific laws and principles?

Science curriculum is developed on the basis of these points.

Psychological Dimensions of  Physical Science curriculum construction

According to Faculty psychologists, the study of

Latin develops reasoning,

Mathematics develops attention ,

Science develops critical thinking, Physical Education develops will power. 

According to John Locke, mind is a ' tabula rasa' or ' blank slate'.

In 20th century, Alfred Binet developed Intelligence test.

By the third quarter of the 20th century, Aptitude test was developed.

Later, Piaget, Bruner, Ausbel provide an idea about what students can learn. 

1. Development stage

2. Pre- requisite

Last of  20 th century witnessed the emergence of Constructivism by Piaget and Generative Learning Model by Osbourne and Wittrock. 

Later, Maxims of teaching evolved.

Sociological Principles of Curriculum Development

The structure and function of a society has its reflection in curriculum. UNESCO has drafted separate curriculum for the developed, developing and under developed countries. In India,  curriculum should aim  for social change (change in attitude, values, behaviour, manners, relations, customs etc.) , taking into consideration the prevailing superstitions, illiteracy and poverty of the masses. Education should enable to create an urge for social mobility. Recent attempt is to connect science education with society. 'Extension' is suggested for Higher education.

Aspects  of Curriculum Organisation

Curriculum organisation has two aspects:

1. The ways in which courses may be organised.
2. The ways in which materials within the course may be organised.

Types of Curriculum

1. Core Curriculum

Society needs citizens with both common and differentiated competencies and the school should provide these. It views knowledge as an integrated embodiment. The term 'core' has been applied to the part of curriculum which is concerned with the experiences necessary for all learners  to develop behavioural competencies, personal and social responsibility  necessary for all individuals  living in a democratic society. It unifies learning experience of pupils around real problems. The core curriculum provides a natural integration of school, home and community living. 

The purpose of the core curriculum:

• Proficiency in the use of language.
• Civic understanding and competence.
• Intelligent action as consumers.
• Understanding family relationships.
• Appreciation of beauty.
• Ability to think rationally.
• Insight into ethical values and principles.
• Ability to use  and budget time efficiently.
• Respect for other persons and ability to work cooperatively with others.

2. Subject- centered Curriculum

In this approach, all subjects for instruction are separated. The content areas are taught in isolation. Emphasis on oral discourse and extensive explanations. Teaching strategies: Lecture, Discussions & Questions. Teachers plan the content before teaching, which is centered around content. This method is effective for training specialists in particular disciplines. The drawback of this method is that it does not foster creative or critical thinking. It does not develop an understanding of science related social issues. Overemphasis is given to content. 

3. Activity Curriculum

It is based on the theories of Plato, Rousseau and John Dewey. Emphasizes the development of four fundamental impulses:

• Social impulse (sharing experience and ideas)
• Constructive impulse (play, rhythemic movements, working with new materials)
• Impulse to investigate and experiment (to discover things)
• Expressive and artistic impulses (refinement and expression of communicative and constructive impulses) 

To develop these fundamental impulses, curriculum emphasis activities derived from traditional subjects. Carpentary, cooking, sewing, craft, agriculture, sculpture, painting etc are included in the curriculum. It is in agreement with the psychological principles of learning, Over emphasis on activity. But it creates wide gap in knowledge from different branches of science and discontinuity of experience from class to class.

1. Approaches for organising course

It deals with selection and organisation of learning experiences. 

Concentric Plan

Here, the science course is arranged over a number of years. In the beginning years, a general treatment is attempted. Later, it is developed in successive years, according to the mental development of the students. Here, the learner moves from simple to complex in gradation, considering the psychological development of the learner. 

Example

Topic : ACIDS

I Year : food items having sour taste

II Year : common properties of acids

III Year: strong and weak acids

IV Year :  monobasic and dibasic acids

Later years : electronic concept of an acid etc. 

Spiral Curriculum

In spiral curriculum, the  content materials with in the course are arranged  in a spiral manner. 

It  ascends and enlarges as it climbs. The spiral view accounts for the more refined

wisdom distilled from the experience over time. This type of  curriculum

organization shows the gradual nature of development of knowledge and the learner, over the years.

Historical approach

 In this approach,  the organization of the science curriculum is in accordance with the evolution of science.  The major emphasis is the realization of scientific life rather than the mastery

of the principles and method. The pupils should be guided in to the spirit of the

intellectual life of great men of science, who made significant contribution for its development. 

Eg : Evolution of modern periodic table through series of stages.

Type study

In this system,  the material to be taught is classified into types. A type is that which represents  the characteristics of group. The approach is advantageous as it helps pupils to draw their own generalizations from types. Thus it follows inductive approach.  This approach is based on sound psychological principles, gives training in scientific thinking and develops powers of observation.  The types are arranged according to the increasing order of complexity. The main draw back of the type study  is that all the content to be taught cannot be classified into types.

Eg : An element represents a family of elements - Chlorine as a representative of halogen group elements. 

 Topical approach 

In this approach the content of the topic selected is dealt in detail in 

the same class. The topic dealt in any classes will not repeat in further classes. For

example the topic surface tension in STD VIII will not be included in the upper or lower

class curriculum. This method is suitable for higher classes. This approach has the

disadvantage that it may lead to lop-sided syllabus with some topics have unjustified

weightage and other lacks the same. (adapted from text)

General science approach

General science course emerged a as a revolt against the compartmentalization of different disciplines of science.  The general science scheme was meant  to popularize science instruction by presenting more simple, attractive and interesting study of scientific facts and principles in relation to real life experiences. It  is  based on the common experience of children and explain the laws of nature without compartmentalisation . It consists of an elementary study of the fundamental facts and principles of various sciences related  to the immediate environment of the pupils. 

The major advantages  of General science approach are 

1. Science learned in the school will be of much use in the daily life of students. 

2. Since general science deal with real problems of life pupils develop the ability to

solve practical problems encounter in their environment.

The disadvantages lies in the difficulty of  selection of subject matter and organization of the course as a unified whole . It requires proficient teachers to   handle the topics successfully.

 It does not provide sound knowledge of subject matter. The lack of text books written according to the scheme and lack of  well equipped libraries and laboratories are other major drawbacks.

Disciplinary Approach

On account of the defects of general science curriculum, it has been replaced by a disciplinary approach in the secondary school science course. The scheme is suitable for primary classes where children have a natural interest in the elementary facts and processes in science.

In the disciplinary approach sciences are treated as separate disciplines

namely, physics, chemistry, biology etc. The content is treated exhaustively and is made

to cover wide areas. The advocates of this scheme claim that the system provides the

pupils a sound knowledge of the fundamentals of various sciences and is more practical

than the general science approach.

Hidden curriculum 

Hidden curriculum is sometimes referred to as unintended curriculum which consists all the learning experiences that produce changes in the students’ views, attitudes and values but are not

part of the formal curriculum. It resembles in the models and values reflected by the

teachers and administrators. 

The hidden curriculum often reflects trends such as rewarding great success,

ignoring average performance and criticizing or punishing failure. The inequalities

prevailing in the society in terms of gender, language, cultural differences, and socio-

economic-status become inherent part of the hidden curriculum. The control mechanism

with in the school and the classroom, the distributions of resources and the decision

about tracking both for student and teacher assignments are part of the hidden curriculum.

 CORRELATION

Correlation is the technique of relating two subjects while teaching any one of them for facilitating meaningful learning and easy understanding of the topic under consideration. 

Principle 

Various school subjects must help the learner to understand his/her environment better.

Classification of correlation

1. Systematic correlation

Achieved through planning of the curriculum.

A panel of experts from different subjects work in group at the time of curriculum development. 

Related topics in various subjects are arranged scientifically in  same standard.

Its success depends on the cooperation and coordination of various subject teachers.

2. Incidental correlation

Achieved by planning of the teacher, 

Not a result of curriculum organisation.

Intrinsic in nature- teacher may correlate a topic with another of the same or previous standard.

Its success depends on wide knowledge and resourcefulness of the teacher.

Correlation of Science with other subjects

It can be treated under 3 heads

1. Correlation of science subjects with one another

Science cannot be taught in isolation. All branches of science ( physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, geology, agriculture etc) are correlated and independent upon each other. 

Eg : photosynthesis(botany) is related to physics & chemistry.

2. Correlation of science with other school subjects

a. Science and mathematics

Eg : Laws of reflection (physics), mathematical language is required to express the equation and to solve problems, mathematical computation is required.

b. Science and language

It is through  languages, the people in different parts of the world becomes aware of scientific developments / inventions .

c. Science and social science

The history of development of science, the developments in various field to reach the present stage - all these can be understood and this knowledge enables a student to become good and useful citizen, to lead an ideal civic life.

d. Science and drawing/craft

Leisure time and science club activities(chart preparation,card board modelling, clay modelling) are closely related to craft and drawing. 

3. Correlation of science with Social and physical environment

Teacher should relate the topics with daily life situations.

Eg :plastic (chemistry) can be correlated with hazards in surroundings due to plastic.

Advantages of correlation

1. Helps in integration of knowledge

2. Helps in effective, meaningful teaching and learning

3. Enhances motivation

4. Widens mental horizon

5. Enhances economy of effort

6. Helps in transfer of training