1. • Student Reengagement and
Dropout Prevention Plan
We have drop-out reduction plan
but drop-out prevention plan is
not included
Principles of
Instructional
Material
CARLOS TIAN CHOW C. CORREOS, MAELT
Discussant
2.
3.
4. Objectives:
1. Familiarize the guiding principles in
developing instructional materials
2. Discuss the important features and impact
of developing appropriate instructional
materials
8. Materials should require
and facilitate learner self-
investment.
4
Enable learners to be interested, draw their
attention, and attract to learn the materials.
9. Materials should expose
the learners to activities
in authentic use.
5
Learning materials can provide exposure to
authentic input.
10. Materials should provide the
learners with opportunities to use
the target skills to achieve desired
outcome.
6
Instructional materials must consider
learners’ diversity. One size fits all concept
is not applicable.
11. Materials should take into
account that learners differ
in learning styles
7
Not all learners have the same learning
styles.
12. Materials should maximize learning
potential by encouraging intellectual,
aesthetic and emotional involvement.
8
Developers must consider the knowledge,
skills and attitudes that learners must put
into the activities .
13. Materials should not rely too
much on controlled practice
9
When learners do authentic activities, they
are doing something that puts realistic and
relevant learning.
14. Materials should provide
opportunities for outcome
feedback.
10
Feedback must focus on the effectiveness of
the outcome rather than just on the
accuracy of the output.
15. • Student Reengagement and
Dropout Prevention Plan
We have drop-out reduction plan
but drop-out prevention plan is
not included
Instructional
materials hold the
power to either
engage or
demotivate students.
Editor's Notes
Teaching and learning materials is one of the very crucial elements that has to exist in the conduct teaching-learning activities. Teaching and learning activities are not only for learners in schools but for teachers as well who are considered as lifelong learners themselves. One importance of Instructional Materials or what we called Educational resources is to improve learners' knowledge, abilities, and skills, may it be students, teachers or other users, to monitor their assimilation of information, and to contribute to their overall development and upbringing. Research says that the quality of instructional materials directly impacts the quality of teaching and learning. And knowing how to develop appropriate instructional materials must a valuable skill for every teachers to have.
Past studies have shown that information received by the brain comes through our senses in following proportion: Sight – 83% , Hearing – 11%, Smell – 3.5%, Touch – 1.5%, Taste – 1%. This shows that through sense of seeing or through visuals, information are received and processed. This shows the importance of using visual materials or audiovisual aids (AVA) in teaching and learning.
Studies also show that an average person can remember from: 10% of what he reads, 20% of what he hears, 30% of what he sees, 50% of what he see and hear, 80% of what he says, 90% of what he say and do. effective learning by providing students the opportunity to see, hear and do.
Instructional materials are essential tools in learning every subject in the school curriculum whether you are in the basic or higher education. These materials allow learners to interact with words, symbols and ideas in ways that develop their abilities in reading, listening, solving, viewing, thinking, speaking, writing, even using media and technology. For us to be able to develop these materials, we need to guided with these objectives for these session. First, we need to familiarize the guiding principles in developing instructional materials. Most of the time, developers are overwhelming the materials to the point that learner’s capacity could not meet the expected proficiency. And this must be prevented. Second is, we will discuss the important features and impact of developing appropriate instructional materials. This talks about, how do we ensure that our materials are appropriate and friendly for all types of users.
Fist principle, Materials should achieve impact. Impact is achieved when materials have a noticeable effect on learners. When we say noticeable, the materials must capture the learner’s curiosity, interest, and attention. This is ensuring the instructional materials are attractive so that learner will put interest on it. If impact is achieved, there is a better chance that activities in the materials will be taken by learners for processing and learning. So, how can we ensure that our learning materials achieve impact? We must make sure that our materials are new, varied, presented attractively, and has appealing content. It speaks of what is something special about this material.
Second principle, Materials should help learners to feel at ease. Materials can help learners to feel at ease in many ways, for example, the use of texts and illustrations rather than just texts alone. Texts alone can make learners detached from the learning process considering modern learners are not into reading anymore. Modern learners are more into viewing. One critical consideration is that, when developers use texts and illustrations, one must see to it that the learners can relate with their own culture and context rather than using those that are culturally bound or contents that are beyond their comprehension. To provide also ease for learners, materials must include examples that will serve as guide for learners to do the task.
Principle 3. Materials should help learners to develop confidence. Psychology of learning says, relaxed and self-confident learners learn faster . Many learners feel relaxed and confident in learning if they think and see that the materials, they are using are not too difficult but is just one step further to help them scaffold towards the desired mastery. When materials are difficult for our learners, they likely ignore the materials. Just like us adults, when we see that we do not understand the things that we are reading or using, we don’t give time for it. We will just set aside the materials and keep busy with other things. The same logic is applied to learners in interacting with the materials. They don’t give time to things that are difficult to them.
Principle 4, Materials should require and facilitate learner self-investment. This is making and ensuring how our materials become interesting for learners. If our materials are interesting to the learners, it draws their attention, and can attract them to learn the materials. When they are attracted to the materials; it will facilitate them to learn the materials by themselves. The logic is, we don’t invest on things that are not interesting. We don’t waste time for materials that is of no value to us. Our learners have the same context too. They will not invest time to materials that are not important and relevant to their lives.
Principle 5, Materials should expose the learners to activities in authentic use. A lot of teaching/learning materials can provide exposure to authentic input through the
instructions, advice they give for the activities or the spoken and the written texts included in the materials. Developers must ensure that activities to be included in the development must be real-life, those which they see they can apply in the real-life context. Activities must be realistic and at the same time useful for learners. We must remember that the learning process will only occur if learners start to do the task because he believes and he understands that this is useful in his life as he grows.
Principle 6, Materials should consider that learners differ in affective attitudes. This means that instructional materials must consider learners’ diversity. One size fits all concept is not applicable. It must be noted that learners’ attitudes vary in types and times. Ideal learners will need strong and consistent motivation, and a positive feeling towards the target skills, their teachers, their fellow learners, and of course the the materials they are using and learning. Realizing this fact, materials should provide choices of different types of texts and types of activities. Developers on the other hand must define, who are the users of these instructional materials so that the design will cater appropriately to the target learners. Diverse learners need more options to choose. Therefore, materials must be fitting and friendly to all type of learners.
Principle 7, Materials should take into account that learners differ in learning styles. Not all learners have the same learning styles. Developers must see to it that learning styles vary and these include visual, auditory, kinesthetic and other forms of styles. For example, there are learner who prefers to do something physical, such as following instructions), or some are studial type of learners, they like to pay conscious attention to the features of the activity and they want more activities and exercises, or others may be experiential, analytic, global, dependent and independent. The consideration here is who are the users of these materials and what learning style must be used and integrated into these materials.
Principle 8 is, Materials should maximize learning potential by encouraging intellectual, aesthetic and emotional involvement. Developers must consider the knowledge, skills and attitudes that learners must put into the activities in the instructional materials so that they will achieve the full competency requirements as they do the activity. When KSA is embedded in the learning activities of the materials, it stimulates both right and left-brain activities. The whole brain literacy will process as they independently do the activity. This principle means that materials will encourage the learners to learn the lesson involving different cerebral processes and different states of consciousness in many different parts of the brain.
Principle 9 is, Materials should not rely too much on controlled practice. Many researchers agree that controlled practice appears to have little long-term effect on the learning progress and has little effect on fluency specifically in language learning as presented by Ellis and Rathbone, 1987. So, developers must see to it that materials to be designed must include authentic activities so that learners will be doing something that puts realistic and relevant learning. Since authentic learning prepares students for the real world to be more effective individuals, instructional materials shall highlight this in the design.
Lastly, principle 10, Materials should provide opportunities for outcome feedback. Feedback which is focused on the effectiveness of the outcome rather than just on the accuracy of the output can lead to output becoming a profitable source of input. Therefore, a learner who is successful to achieve a particular purpose will gain positive feedback on the effectiveness of the use of the material for further learning outcome. In relation to this, materials developer must ensure that production of content and activities have intended outcomes other than just practicing the lesson. There must be cyclical evaluation of the material effectiveness or on its educational soundness to ensure that materials are serving its purpose.
It has been proven that the use of instructional materials can enhance the learning achievement. They provide a common experience upon which late learning can be developed. They stimulate and motivate students to learn. Also, instructional materials provide the core information that students will experience, learn, and apply during a course. Every developer must be very careful in designing instructional materials because along the way these instructional materials hold the power to either engage or demotivate students.
