Use Of Instructional Materials Research Articles

La influencia de factores contextuales en las creencias y en el uso de libros de texto de profesores de lenguas mexicanos

While much has been written about the use of instructional materials in the field of language education, very few studies have actually studied the impact of the context in the use of materials in teachers’ practices. This work shows the findings of a study about the contextual factors that a group of experienced Mexican teachers believe shaped their lessons. Drawing on qualitative data, the study shows that factors such as the length of courses and lessons, the school facilities, the institutional practices to select textbooks as well as the institutional procedures to supervise teachers’ practices and assessment, explicitly emerged as the most influential in the teachers’ lessons.

Availability and the Use of Instructional Materials in the Teaching and Learning of Igbo Language

This study set out to identify the availability and extent of the use of instructional materials in the teaching and learning of Igbo language in Obollo-Afor Educational Zone. The work adopted a survey design and two research questions guided the study. Instrument for data collection was a researcher made questionnaire with 40 items. The data obtained were analyzed using percentage, mean and standard deviation. The results indicated that most of the instructional resources were not available in the schools, while the few available ones were utilized to low and very low extent. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that government should provide resources for Igbo language instruction and that seminars and workshops should be organized for the teachers on the importance of using instructional materials in delivering their lessons. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s1p286

Availability and Use of Instructional Materials in the Teaching of Conflict and Conflict Resolution in Primary Schools in Nandi North District, Kenya

This paper examines the availability and use of instructional resources necessary for teaching Conflict and Conflict Resolution as a topic in Social Studies subject in primary schools in Nandi North District in Kenya. The study was carried out through descriptive survey. The study population included Social Studies teachers in Kosirai Division of Nandi North District. From this population, a sample of 45 standard seven Social Studies teachers was drawn using purposive sampling. The instruments used for data collection were: a questionnaire, document analysis and classroom observation checklist. Descriptive statistics namely: frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study showed that many of the primary school Social Studies teachers had not attended any in-service courses to induct them on how to teach emerging issues like Conflict and Conflict Resolution in the current primary curriculum. The teachers also lacked sufficient instructional materials for effective teaching of the topic. The conclusion drawn from the study was that the current preparation of teachers to teach Conflict and Conflict Resolution is inadequate with regards to their ability to design relevant teaching and learning resources and effectively use them in the teaching and learning process. In addition the available instructional materials in the sampled schools were insufficient. The study recommended the need for Social Studies teachers to be retrained and sensitized on the appropriate instructional materials for teaching Conflict and Conflict Resolution.

Applying NAEP to Improve Mathematics Content and Methods Courses for Preservice Elementary and Middle School Teachers

This study explored how mathematics content and methods courses for preservice elementary and middle school teachers could be improved through the integration of a set of instructional materials based on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). A set of eight instructional modules was developed and tested. The study involved 7 university instructors and 542 preservice teachers (PSTs) from three different universities. A quasi‐experimental nonequivalent groups design was used for this study in which the following data sources were collected and analyzed. Three versions of a Learning Mathematics for Teaching test were given to assess PSTs‘ mathematical content knowledge for teaching: (a) Elementary Number Concepts and Operations—Content Knowledge; (b) Elementary Geometry—Content Knowledge; and (c) Middle School Number Concepts and Operations—Content Knowledge. In addition, the Mathematics Teacher Efficacy Beliefs Instrument was given to assess PSTs’ teacher efficacy beliefs. Test results were analyzed using paired samples t‐tests. Findings suggest that use of instructional materials, based on NAEP, with PSTs results in increases in their mathematical content knowledge for teaching and in their teaching efficacy beliefs.

MAINTAINING ISLAMIC VALUES IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN INDONESIAN PESANTRENS

This paper tries to propose some ways to incorporate Islamic values in Englishteaching in Indonesian pesantrens. Among others things these values include:optimizing the use of instructional materials containing Islamic messages andpreparing teachers with multiple qualifications. By so doing, the santris canmaintain their Islamic identity and are not easily contaminated by Westernvalues and, at the same time, they will have English competence as a means toface their future.Keywords: Indonesian pesantrens, language and culture, English LanguageTeaching, Islamic values

Influence of Gender and Age on Science and Non-Science Students’ Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness of University Lecturers

The study focused on university students’ evaluation of the teaching effectiveness of their lecturers with a view to providing diagnostic feedback to lecturers about the effectiveness of their teaching. A descriptive survey research design was employed in carrying out the study. Moreover, a stratified random sampling technique was used to select fifty second year students from each of the Faculties of Science and Arts of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Nigeria. A total of 100 students were eventually asked to evaluate the best lecturer among those teaching them during the semester by rating such lecturer using valid and reliable instrument named University Students’ Evaluation of Teaching Effectiveness Scale (USETES). The students rated the lecturers on a five-point scale of very poor, poor, moderate, good and very good. The instrument was made up of forty-six items that were divided into sections of students’ interest, classroom organization, and fairness to students, preparation, giving of assignments, assessment/appearance and commitment. Percentages, frequency count and t-test were used to analyze the data. The study revealed that most of the students rated their lecturers above average with respect to sympathy, friendliness, good relationship with students, readiness to assist students, respect for the view of students, good interaction with students and good sense of judgment. However, most students rated the lecturers low on traits such as supervision of projects, regular class attendance and use of instructional materials. The study further found out that there were no significant influence of sex and age of the students on their evaluation of their lecturers’ teaching effectiveness in some traits while significant influence of sex and age were recorded in other traits. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n14p491

Usage of Instructional Materials among Teacher Education Faculty in Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines

Some learning takes place from the things that learners hear; more learning takes place from the things that learners see; and, still more learning transpires from what learners do. Hence, the importance of providing adequate, appropriate and varied instructional materials to concretize and substantiate learning. This study is a descriptive research that ascertained the extent of usage of instructional materials of teacher education faculty members of the Nueva Vizcaya State University, School Year 2011-2012. A structured questionnaire was used to gather data from randomly selected teacher education students and teachers. Frequency counts, means, percentages and correlation procedures were employed to treat the collected data. The students thought that teachers use all kinds of instructional materials from time to time while the teachers perceived themselves to habitually use all kinds of instructional materials. Both teachers and students viewed that teachers remarkably consider the characteristics of the different instructional materials when utilizing them in the teaching-learning process. The teachers consider the age and year level of their students as well as their attendance to relevant seminars when using different kinds of instructional materials in facilitating learning. Additionally, the students’ age and gender contribute to the teachers’ effective use of instructional materials with consideration to their characteristics.Keywords: Education, learning aids, instructional materials, teaching-learning process,facilitating learning, student learning, quality instruction, Philippines

Effects of Use of Instructional Materials on Students Cognitive Achievement in Agricultural Science

The study to find out the effects of use of instructional material on students cognitive achievement in agricultural science in secondary schools of Orumba South Local Government Area. Quasi experimental design was used. The sample comprised of 256 JS II students randomly sampled from 5 schools drawn from 5 towns in the local Government Area. The students were divided into two groups (experimental and control, group). An Agricultural Achievement Test (AAT) of reliability 0.82 was used for the study. The experimental group was taught using instructional materials while the control group was taught without instructional materials. Data collected was analyzed using mean, standard deviation and z-test statistics. The findings revealed that students taught with instructional materials performed better than those taught without instructional materials. Also there is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students. The null hypothesis tested at 0.05 level of significance indicated that there is significant difference between the achievement scores of those taught with instructional materials and those taught without instructional materials. It was therefore recommended that instructional materials be used in teaching in secondary schools because it has positive impact on student’s performance.

Instructional Materials and Design: Issues and Challenges

This study was carried out in Udi Education Zone of Enugu State to investigate the design of instructional materials for teaching in secondary schools. The study adopted ex-post facto research design. The population comprised 1528 teachers from the education zone. Questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. Two research questions and one hypothesis guided the study. Mean and standard deviations were used to analyze the two research questions while t-test statistic was employed in testing the stated hypothesis. The findings indicated that instructional materials designed and used by the schools were of no quality, out-dated, cost effective and did not encourage intellectual development of the students. The findings also showed that the following criteria should form the basis for the designing of instructional materials for effective teaching and learning include materials that are durable, less costly, easily maintained and manipulated by students, appeal to students’ interest and developed their intellectual capacities. The researcher recommended that government should make policies that should guide the design and production of instructional materials for use in schools. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2013.v2n6p153

The Influence of Instructional Materials on Academic Performance of Senior Secondary School Students in Chemistry in Cross River State

This research work investigated the influence of instructional materials (teaching aids) on students’ academic performance in senior secondary school Chemistry in Cross River State. A two group pre-test post test quasi-experimental design was adopted for the study. One research question and one hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. A total of 100 senior secondary one (SS1) Chemistry students were selected from five (5) Schools in Yakuur Local Government Area of Cross River State through simple random sampling and stratified random sampling techniques. Fifty SSI students (Experimental group) were taught with instructional materials and another forty (Control group) were taught without instructional materials. A validated Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) was used to gather data for the study and a split-half was carried out using the Pearson product moment correlation to obtain a reliability coefficient of 0.67.Independent t-test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 significant level while the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient at that level was used to analyse the research questions. The study revealed that students taught with instructional materials performed significantly better than those taught without instructional materials and also that the use of instructional materials generally improved students’ understanding of concepts and led to high academic achievements . Recommendations were made on how to improve academic performance of chemistry students by encouraging the use of instructional materials in teaching-learning chemistry.Keywords: Instructional Materials, Teaching-Learning, Sampling Techniques, Academic Performance and Experimental Group.

Use of Instructional Materials and Educational Performance of Students in Integrated Science (A Case Study of Unity Schools in Jalingo,Taraba state, Nigeria)

This study examined the use of instructional materials and educational performance of students in Intergrated science in unity schools in Jalingo, Taraba state.The population consisted of 249 students in the junior section of Federal science and Technical college Jalingo .The researcher and one other teacher in the school used experimental design of the pre-test and post test sessions.The post -tests mean scores were compared using a Z-test statistical analysis.Findings revealed a statistical significant difference in the mean scores.

A comparison of the views of extension agents and farmers regarding extension education courses in Dezful, Iran

Background and purpose : This study examines the views of farmers and extension agents participating in extension education courses in Dezful, Iran, with regard to problems with these courses. It relies upon a descriptive methodology, using a survey as its instrument. Sample : The statistical population consisted of 5060 farmers and 50 extension agents; all extension agents were studied owing to their small population and a sample of 466 farmers was selected based on the stratified ratio sampling method. For the data analysis, statistical procedures including the t-test and factor analysis were used. Results : The results of factor analysis on the views of farmers indicated that these courses have problems such as inadequate use of instructional materials by extension agents, insufficient employment of knowledgeable and experienced extension agents, bad and inconvenient timing of courses for farmers, lack of logical connection between one curriculum and prior ones, negligence in considering the opinions of farmers in arranging the courses, and lack of information about the time of courses. The findings of factor analysis on the views of extension agents indicated that these courses suffer from problems such as use of consistent methods of instruction for teaching curricula, and lack of continuity between courses and their levels and content. Conclusions : Recommendations include: listening to the views of farmers when planning extension courses; providing audiovisual aids, pamphlets and CDs; arranging courses based on convenient timing for farmers; using incentives to encourage participation; and employing extension agents with knowledge of the latest agricultural issues.

Availability and Teachers’ Use of Instructional Materials and Resources in the Implementation of Social Studies in Junior Secondary Schools in Edo State, Nigeria

Social studies is a core subject offered in the junior secondary school educational system. This study is designed to assess the availability and teachers’ use of instructional materials and resources in the implementation of junior secondary school social studies curriculum in Edo state. Three research questions were raised and one hypothesis was formulated. A sample of fifty social studies teachers were randomly selected from fifty junior secondary schools in five local government areas of Edo State. Data analysis was carried out using t-test for the hypothesis and simple percentages for questions one and two. The results showed that instructional materials and resources available were grossly inadequate. It was also observed that there was no difference in the use of instructional materials between specialist social studies teachers and non-specialist teachers. It is therefore recommended that instructional materials and resources be made available for the teaching of social studies.

The influence of instructional materials on mathematics achievement of senior secondary students in Akamkpa Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria

Having observed the reckless abandonment of professional codes and ethics of teaching soon after certification, and specifically the subterfuge of the use of instructional materials in lesson delivery, the researchers set out to investigate the state-of-the-art in terms of availability and use of mathematical instructional materials, and the influence of these on students’ achievement in the subject. Three instruments, a 20-item Mathematics Teacher Instructional Materials Availability Questionnaire (TIMAQ), a 20-item Mathematics Teacher Instructional Material Use Questionnaire (TIMUQ) and a 30-item Multiple Choice Achievement Test (MCAT) were developed, validated (test-retest reliability coefficients of 0.87 and 0.97 respectively for TIMAQ and TIMUQ, and KR-20 coefficient of 0.89 with mean 40.8, S.D. 11.33) for MCAT. Two hundred (200) students (20 per school comprising 100 male and 100 female) were selected from the ten public secondary schools in Akamkpa Local Government Area by stratified random technique, and two (2) Mathematics teachers per school for the study. Results of the simple percentage and independent t-test analyses revealed the non-availability and non use of instructional materials in Mathematics instruction, as well as significant achievement differences between materials-available and non-available schools on one hand and achievement of students from material-used and non–used schools on the other. Useful recommendations were therefore made based on these findings.Keywords: mathematics instructional materials, students’ achievement, availability of instructional materials, use of instructional materials

Un modelo de tutoría universitaria para el aprendizaje de materiales instruccionales

Presents the results of a study on a model designed to address problems related to reading comprehension and learning with instructional materials among college students who receive support from a tutor. The study included 59 tutors and 200 students from the Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Hidalgo in Mexico. It was designed as quasi-experimental research with three independent groups for comparison. The Learning Styles Inventory and Motivational Orientation (Edaom) questionnaire developed by Castaneda and Ortega (2004) was applied as a pre and post-test instrument subsequent to intervention with the model during a period of one semester. The results reasonably show intervention by the tutor helped to improve the students’ performance compared to the other two groups and that learning through the use of instructional materials requires training on the part of the tutor.

Development of Instructional Materials from Local Resources for Art-Based Courses

The aim of the paper was to examine the use of instructional materials from local resources for art based courses at the tertiary level. The paper examined the concept of instructional materials and their production for instructional purposes for art based courses. Effort was made to review literature on the categorization of instructional materials from local materials and how they can be developed and produced for use to enhance effective learning. Introduction The production of Instructional materials had undergone several reviews and processes by experts from various fields. These experts have developed and produced in line with the needs of their area of specialization and the resources available to them in their locality. In the area of Arts and Humanities for instance, much problems 2 encountered from the use of appropriate Instructional materials for teaching and learning had being usually as a result of high cost of factory produced/imported materials, scarcity of such products in the country and above all irrelevancy of some of the materials to our social/cultural settings, which had always left our students wandering in abstract. Olumorin (2009) emphasized that it is when original materials are not available for use in teaching and learning, that other types and forms of instructional can be applied. Also, Abolade and Olumorin (2004) reported that most of the factory produced instructional materials for teaching art based courses are usually very scarce to come by and where they are within reach, they are usually very expensive to buy. Some of the factory produced/imported instructional materials have also been discovered to be concept-based on foreign ideas and culture. For instance, in learning alphabets at nursery/primary class, an imported chart with “A” for Apple, “B” for Ball, “C” for Cat and so on but a locally produced chart will reflect objects that can easily be seen in the child’s environment, for instance, “A” for Ant, “B” for Basket, “C” for Cutlass. It is against this background that the need to fashion out ways by which local resources can be used for developing instructional materials should be underscored. In this work, three major categories of mode of local production of instructional materials for art based courses was outlined based on the presentation of Ogunmilade (1984). The presentation was however improved upon to meet up with current use of material resources and methods as presented in figure 1 Locally sourced Instructional Materials

Using Performance-Based Assessments to Prepare Safe Science Teachers

Standard 9 of the National Science Teachers Association Standards for Science Teacher Preparation is designed to ensure that science teacher preparation programs provide preservice science teachers with the knowledge and skills to understand and successfully engage students in a safe and ethical manner. This standard contains four components describing science teachers’ legal and ethical responsibilities, appropriate use of instructional materials (chemicals in particular), emergency procedures and safety equipment, and guidelines for proper use of living organisms in the classroom. In this article, we describe the requirements of Standard 9 and provide guidance on assessments that can be used to present evidence for preservice teachers’ competence in each of the four components.

Universal Design for Learning: Technology and Pedagogy

When educators hear the term universal design for learning (UDL), most associate it with technology (cf. Zascavage & Winterman, 2009). However, UDL is not solely about the use of technology in education (KingSears, 2001; Orkwis & McLane, 1998; Rose & Meyer, 2000). UDL is also about the pedagogy, or instructional practices, used for students with and without disabilities. The concept of universal design, which originated in the field of architecture in the 1970s by Ron Mace (Center for Universal Design, 1997), continues to have a major influence, particularly reflected in building structures that are now required to incorporate features (e.g., ramps, doorway widths) that enable more people with different needs to access buildings without the need to retrofit structural details (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 1991). The main feature of universally designed buildings and products (whether a business or a home) is that they allow people with unique needs to independently and immediately use them is. Some of these features are structural (door handles instead of door knobs); others are technological (such as closed captions on television sets). Within universal design, seven guiding principles drive the design of products and environments so that they are usable by more people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design (Connell et al., 1997). When educators employ these principles in the design and delivery of instruction, accommodations noted on individualized education programs (IEPs) for students with learning disabilities (LD) may more naturally occur in general education classrooms. As applied to the educational needs of students with LD, these principles are played out in both technological and pedagogical ways. The seven guiding principles originally identified for universal design are equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, perceptible information, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and size and space for approach and use (Connell et al., 1997). The principles are sometimes overlapping in function, as noted in the following examples. One principle, flexibility in use, is evident when teachers design instruction that accommodates a wide range of students' preferences and abilities. For example, when the instructional goal is for students to measure the perimeter of quadrilaterals, teachers can use concrete and virtual manipulative demonstrations to show the different types of quadrilaterals with corresponding formulas. The concrete and virtual manipulative demonstrations are flexible because they provide students choices in learning, and these choices also accommodate students' needs when learning the content. However, it is not simply the use of concrete or virtual manipulatives that conveys information to students with and without LD. How teachers verbally explain the math content, concepts, and rules, that is, the pedagogy that is used, can either clarify or confuse learners. For this example, the pairing of the virtual manipulative technology with the way teachers instruct has the potential to increase the number of learners, regardless of ability, who can more quickly learn how to measure the perimeter of quadrilaterals. Equitable use of instructional materials can be achieved via technology, such as digital texts for students with LD. However, when the instructional material is a textbook that is not well designed in terms of how its content is organized, depicted, and sequenced, pedagogical features that increase the content's accessibility for many learners become the focus. For example, researchers who have analyzed textbooks found the content difficult to comprehend, laden with minimally related facts and information (cf. Jitendra, Deatline-Buchman, & Sczesniak, 2005; Jitendra et al., 2001; van Garderen, 2006). Taking a UDL approach to textbook usage, these weakly designed features are redesigned before instruction is delivered, so that key facts are targeted and relationships among them are determined. …

The effects of blended learning environment on the critical thinking skills of students

The aim of educational system which changes according to the enhancements in educational technology is to make students more active in the learning process, as well as make them as people who have skills such as critical thinking, problem solving etc. Critical thinking is a thinking skill which consists of mental processes of discernment, analysis and evaluation. Blended Learning is learning which combines online and face-to-face approaches. By means of online discussion forms, teachers can monitor the class discussions. These discussions help teachers identify topics that need clarification or that have captured the interest of students, and they can use the insights gained by them to structure class time. Also, if teacher use the Web discussion area to address some of the more straightforward student questions, they can make better use of class time. In this sense, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of blended learning environment which supports the course management system on the critical thinking skills of students. The model of the study is pre-test, post-test single group model. There are 44 Students who attending the course of Design And Use Of Instructional Material in the Department of Computer and Instructional Technology Education of Ankara University in third grade who constitute the study group. In this study, Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Test, which consists of 100 items, was used to collect data. This test is composed of a series of test exercises in which the application of the important abilities in the critical thinking is involved. This test includes five sub-tests which are listed as; Inference, Recognition of Assumption, Deduction, Interpretation, Evaluation of Arguments. The test was developed in 1964 by Googwin Watson ve Edward M. Glaser. The test was translated into Turkish by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nükhet Çıkrıkçı – Demirtaşlı in 1996. Analysis results indicated that the range of internal consistency of the subscales are interval from .20 to .47 and the total correlation coefficient is .63. The course consists of 5 weeks throughout the semester. At the beginning of the semester, student’ WGCTA scores were obtained. In the environment of blended learning, the course is supported to chat rooms and forums. After 5 weeks, students were asked to do the test again and the critical skills of the students were examined. The data was analyzed through paired sample t-test to compare the results of pre-test post-test scores, as well as descriptive statistics. There was no significant difference between pre-tets and post-test results.

Elementary schoolteachers' use of instructional materials on the web

PurposeStudies have shown that schoolteachers are familiar with instructional materials on the web and integrate them into classroom teaching. In Taiwan, there are a number of online instructional materials, with the Learning Fueling Station being a leading web site. Using this popular site as an example, this study seeks to investigate how schoolteachers navigate online instructional materials and for what types of instructional materials they are looking.Design/methodology/approachA total of 30 elementary schoolteachers were interviewed in their offices using computers to connect to the Learning Fueling Station web site, and web pages were visited as needed during the interview. Participants were asked to search for any topic in which they were interested, and the interviewer observed and recorded their search behavior.FindingsAll schoolteachers reported that they use the internet prior to designing their instructional activities. The two main reasons they gave for using the internet were to refer to other teachers' materials and to obtain up‐to‐date information on their subjects, especially in areas related to science and technology and social studies. Source materials (e.g. photographs and video clips) and ready‐to‐use instructional packages were two popular items that the schoolteachers search for online. Participants appreciated Learning Fueling Station's commitment to quality but reported that the quantity of information available on the site was insufficient to meet their needs.Originality/valueRelatively few studies have dealt with issues concerning teachers' use behavior. The findings of the study could be helpful for those who are responsible for organizing or maintaining instructional materials web sites on the internet. School librarians may have a better understanding of teachers' behavior and work out a more useful library instruction program.