Using and Evaluating Instructional Materials

Lesson 6.

“You should have a good idea of your destination; both in the over-all purposes of education and in the everyday work of your teaching. If you do not know where you are going, you cannot properly choose a way to get there.”

When choosing instructional materials there are things to be considered. “It is one thing to select a good instructional materials, it is another thing to use it well.”  Hayden Smith and Thomas Nagel (1972) book authors on Instructional Media, advise us to abide by the acronym PPPF.

First, is to Prepare yourself. Know your lesson objective and what you expect from the class after the session and why you have selected such particular instructional material. Plan how to start, to proceed, to evaluate and to end.

Second, is to Prepare your students. Set class expectations and learning goals. The teacher should give guide questions for the students to answer during the discussion and keep the students motivated, interested and engaged to listen, participate and learn.

Third, is to Present the material. Using media and materials like those that are mechanical in nature should be checked and tried before using because it requires rehearsal and a carefully planned performance.


Fourth, is to Follow up. Use an instructional material to achieve an objective, not to kill time nor to give yourself a break, neither to merely entertain the class. Follow up is needed to find out if the objective was attained or not.

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