Levels of teaching

Memory Level
Understanding Level
Reflective Level

1. Dr. Pooja Walia M.Sc. Mathematics, M.Ed. (Gold Medalist ), UGC-J.R. F.,M.Phil., Ph.D. (Education) Designation: Assistant Professor Department of Education Mizoram University, Aizawl LEVELS OF TEACHING

2. Outline of the Presentation Meaning of Levels of teaching Levels of teaching Memory Level Understanding Level Reflective Level Features of Levels Underlying Psychological Theories and Ideas Framework of Levels Merits and Demerits of Levels

3. Levels of Teaching In the formal classroom setting the task of teaching carried out by the teacher can be performed at various levels ranging from least thoughtful to most thoughtful behaviour or mode of action. Accordingly, psychologist and educationist have clearly identified three such levels of teaching learning act as follows Memory Level Understanding Level Reflective Level

4. Levels of Teaching

5. Definition of Memory Level Morris L Bigge has defined “ It is a type of act w hich supposedly embrances committing factual material to memory and nothing else” . This definition conveys that the classroom task at the memory level of teaching is confined merely to memorisation of the facts or associations related to the content material of the subject. The information, facts and body of contents are presented before a learner in such a way that they yield better results in terms of the memorisation of the presented material.

6. Features of Memory Level At this level memory plays a key role. It is predominantly subject matter. Teacher presents factual information before the learner Learner tries to mug up these facts with the least involvement of his thinking and reasoning power without care of understanding of the meaning and application s.

7. Features of Memory Level The learner is supposed to retain this material as longer as possible and to reproduce(recall or recognize) it when needed. The whole effort in revolves round the acquisition of the factual information or knowledge through rote learning. e.g. Multiplication Tables Chemical Symbols of the elements Dates and sequence of the historical events Words and phrases of the forgrein languages The name and number of the bones and muscles in the human body etc.

8. Underlying Psychological Theories and Ideas The theory of memory faculty or mental discipline: In the spirit of this theory, teaching task at memory level aims to discipline or train the faculties of mind, particulary the faculty of memorisation through excercise, repetition and practice of the learning material. The Herbartian theory of appreciation: In the spirit of this theory, this level implanting in the minds of the learners a great mass of factual information merely through the process of mechanical memorisation. The Thorndike's Connectionism: It gives full weightage to the laws of exercise. The Theory of Conditioning: Influenced with the theory of classical and operant conditioning memory level teaching task converts itself into as task of habit formation through repetition of the association between stimuli and response.

9. Framework of Memory Level Focus Syntax: Nature of the subject matter and its presentation Social System The role of the teacher The role of the learner Support System Nature of Motivation The methods employed Evaluation System The testing devices

10. Focus & Nature of the Subject Focus Acquisition of presented facts through rote learning Retention and reproduction(through recall or recognition) of the acquired factual information as and when needed. Nature of the subject matter and its presentation Material should be selected very judiciously to give desirable knowledge of the students. It should be presented in a very systematic manner and definite as well as fixed order to facilitate its proper retention and recall It should be link with the previous knowledge

11. Framework of Memory Level The role of the Teacher Dominant and authoritarian Initiated by him only Presented the material The role of the learner Passive No freedom of creation of knowledge Mere recipient

12. Framework of Memory Level Nature of Motivation Largely extrinsic Students engaged them due to external factors such as fear of punishment, getting favour of the teacher, passing a test or getting promotion in the next grade etc. The methods employed Teacher Centred Subject Centred e.g. lecture method, textbook method, lecture cum blackboard method, deductive method and narration method

13. Framework of Memory Le vel The testing devices Oral Test Type of questions Objective type questions

14. Merit of Memory Level Suitable for small children , as their memory at the younger age is the rote memory. They are capable of mugging up things without caring to know their meaning and use. The task carried out at the memory level in the form of acquisition of so many memorized facts prove quite helpful in the teaching-learning activities performed at the understanding and reflective level. The memory level of teaching learning gives full freedom to the teacher for realizing his goal i.e. to furnish maximum knowledge of his subject in the form of systematic and well connected pieces of information to his studnets in a planned way within a minimum duration of time.

15. Demerit of Memory Level No scope for the development of understanding and other essential cognitive abilities of the students. Not useful for application or practical aspects of the concept. No guarntee of good retention and appropriate reproductionof the memorised material by the learner. No scope for personality development of the child as they have no role besides mugup the things Problem of class control and securing attention as no intrinsic motivation is present at this level. Teacher is so burdenful at this level. He has to arrange for the review, drill and effective excercise for the good retention and easy recall

16. Understanding Level It is a high level in the teaching learning process as compared to memory level . It calls for the use of one's thought processes and cognitive abilities in the form of reasoning and thinking powers, powers of imagination, analysis, synthesis, comparision, application, generalisation and drawing infernces. Morris L. Bigge has defined this level, the one ‘that seeks to acquaint students with the relationship between a generalisation and the particulars-between principles and solitary facts-and which shows the use to which the principles may be applied”

17. Characteristics of Understanding Level It does not stop with the acquisition of facts or information by the students as done at the memory level but takes them ahead for generalizing the rules or principles out of these acquired facts. The students can identify the realtionship between the individual facts and the principles generalised out of these facts. It helps the students use the generalised rules or principles as a tool or instruments in the acquisition of new facts or applying them in their practicle life. e.g. Concept behind the multiplication table.

18. Example of Understanding level When a student memorise a fact,7*5=35, the teaching learning process is said to be operated at the memory level. In this case, he memorizes the facts without understanding, i.e. he neither knows the genearalisation behind this particular fact nor its application. It is only when he is taught at the understanding level, he happens to know that 7*5 is similar to 5*7 When 7objects are grouped five times or five objects are grouped seven times the product is always thirty five. The fact or relatioship is true for all objects in all situations. The knowledge of this fact may be usefully applied in calculating the price of seven item is priced for rupees five or vice versa.

19. Framework of Understanding Level Focus Syntax: Nature of the subject matter and its presentation Social System The role of the teacher The role of the learner Support System Nature of Motivation The methods employed Evaluation System The testing devices

20. Focus The teaching act performed at the understanding level is aimed to achieve the following objectives: Knowledge Objective: Acquisition of required factual information or body of facts Understanding Objective: Under this objective the learner are able: to see relationship between acquired facts to comprehend the meaning of the acquired facts or factual information to identify the similarities and dissimilarities between the acquired facts to seek generalisation out of the specific facts to apply the generalised fact, rule or principle for learning new facts in practical life situations.

21. Nature of the subject matter and its presentation The subject matter for the understanding level teaching is quite structured in terms of following Planning Squential Presentation Meaningful learning It needs to be linked with the previous knowledge of the students on one hand and with its utilisation for acquiring new facts and application to practical life.

22. The role of the Teacher Like memory level teaching the teacher plays a quite dominant and authoritarian role at the understanding level of teaching. This type of teaching is also too much subject centred hence, teacher has to take care of the fact that the students gain complete mastery over the subject matter in terms of its full understanding and generalised insight rather than its mere memorisation, i.e. retention and reproduction of the memorised facts.

23. The role of the learner The learner does not only have a passive role here as in the case of memory level teaching. He has to remain active in acquiring the desired understanding of the learned facts. However the key of the teaching-learning process lies well in the hands of the teacher. The students have to act and interact within the framework set up by the teacher for realizing the set objectives of his teaching.

24. Support System Nature of Motivation: Purpose is always involved in understanding level of teaching. Yet the nature of the motivation here is largely extrinsic as in the case of memory level teaching. The method employed: The method employed at the understanding level requires some additional inputs in methods that are used for memory level e.g. lecture cum demonstration method lecture cum discussion method Question Answer method Inductive method etc.

25. Evaluation System Testing Device Used: Require more comprehensive evaluation programme than memory level of teaching. Oral, written and practical examination Short Answer type question Transfer of training or learning: It gives greater scope for the proper transfer of the acquired training or learning from one situation to another.

26. Merits of Understanding Level Understanding level teaching help the students in the aquisition of the facts or information more effectively than the memory level. Here the retention is quite long as it is accompanied by clear understanding of the facts or information. It helps students to learn generalised rules, principles or theories built up on the basis of individual facts or speacial examples. Such generalised insight acquired by them works as an instrument or a tool. It proves quite useful not only in the aquisition and interpretation of new facts, but also in problematic situations in and outside the school.

27. Merits of Understanding Level Understanding level teaching trains and equips them for acting more intelligently in proceeding on the path of learning. They get proper oppurtunity for the development of their cognitive abilities through various acts like analyzing,synthesizing. comparing, drawing inferences, making generalisation, applying rules and principles etc. performed at this level of teaching. It prepares students for reflective level of teaching. This level equips the students with a mental kit of rules and principles. Such kit proves quite useful in carrying out the teaching activities at the reflective level and also in turning the studnets as masters and experts in their respective fields.

28. Demerits of Understanding Level The teacher at understanding level is more or less teacher centred and subject centred than being child centred. Students do not get required freedom for independent thinking, discovery and problem solving. The motivation is largely extrinsic in nature and the studnets' ego is hardly involved in such type of teaching. The results of such teaching are always judged in terms of the fixed specific responses to highly specific knowledge and skills acquired through mechanized repetition and drillwork or as taught by the teacher in the rigid and controlled teaching-learning situation. Such type of teaching-learning environment and evaluation pattern can't help in the develpoment of higher cognitive abilities, including creativity and independent problem solving abilities among students.

29. Reflective Level The word reflection stands for the act of reflection(turning back), contemplating or paying serious consideration. Consequently, teaching at reflective level must have its association with the process of reflecting or turning back the existing idea or knowledge for more careful consideration or critical examination to derive fresh conclusion. It is in this sense that Teaching at reflective level represents the highest level of teaching act that can be carried out at the most thoughtful modes of operation providing the desirable quality of teaching learning situation and experience to the learner for utilizing and enhancing their cognitive abilities to the maximum.

30. Definition of Reflective Level Morris L. Bigge has defined is as “careful, critical examination of an idea or supposed article of knowledge in the light of the testable evidence which supports it and the further conclusion towards which it points.” This definition reveals following facts about the nature of the reflective level of teaching. It provides opportunities to the learners for the close, careful and critical examination of the existing facts, ideas, insights and generalisation . T he learner try to test them in the light of the relevant evidences . They are free to set independent hypothesis,test them and draw their own conclusion for learning facts or acquiring new insight .

31. Underlying Psychological Theory and Ideas This level has its roots in the cognitive field theory of learning namely goal insight theory, opposed the traditional mechanical memorization and meaningless understanding of facts. It gave emphasis on the purposeful, goal directed, insightful approach to learning and tried to make the learner learn the art and skill of problem solving behaviour by identifying his goal and problem and solve the problem in a scientific way

32. Framework of Reflective Level Focus Syntax: Nature of the subject matter and its presentation Social System The role of the teacher The role of the learner Support System Nature of Motivation The methods employed Evaluation System The testing devices

33. Focus To make use of the learned facts and acquired understanding or insight for learning refectively. To help the learner the learner build up an enlarged store of the tested insights of genralised character To enhance the learners' ability to develop and solve problems at their own initiative.

34. Syntax Nature of the Subject Matter and its presentation: Not structured form as done at memory and understanding level Here the genuine problem is presented before the students for the aquisition, understanding and application of the genralised facts and principles and then enhancing their ability of problem solving are raised, developed and tried for their solution. Some problematic situations are given below:e.g. Students observe that in a tray filled with water, some objects are sinked whiles others are floating. Why is it so? The water of their handpump does not make lather with the soap while that belonging to their neighbour makes a good lather. Why? The bat can be described as a bird an animal too. How is it so?

35. Problem Raising and solving Problem raising, in the words of Morris L. Bigge can be understood as a process of the discovering and identifying inadequecies and dishamonious of outlook or insights. After raising problem students' get motivation intrinsicly and take initiative to solve the problems by their own. Students take initiative, make hypothesis and than verify the hypothesis and reach to the solution of the problem.

36. Social System Role of the Teacher: At the reflective level of teaching, the teacher does not play a dominant and authoritarian role but a facilitator and Situation Creator. Telling of the information is a simple task but to make the children feel the necessity of getting such information and to discover this information by their own efforts is quite challenging which needs a lot from the teachers in terms of their own reflective thinking, ingenuity, scholarship, persistence, tacts,open mindedness, democatic leadership and similar other personality characterstics.

37. Social System Role of the Students: He has to make use of his cognitive abilities and take all initiatives in the process of problem raising and problem solving involved at this level of teaching. Apart from this following roles are played by the students: Solution Finder Independent Active

38. Support System Motivation: Intrinsic The learner are faced with a situation where they feel a sort a psychological tension and intense curosity to know something. Sometimes they are inclined to go deep into the nature of matter and feel the urgent necessity to solve a problem. Such type of motivation helps in building a very healthy environment which is more alive and exciting, more critical and penetrating and more open to fresh and original thinking for carrying out reflective level teaching activities.

39. The Methods Employed Instead of telling the facts and generaisation by the teacher the emphasis is laid over raising, developing and solving problems. Methods used at Refelective Level: Learner Centred Analytic Method Discovery Method Problem Solving Method Assignement Method Project Method

40. Evaluation System Usual Testing devices do not work well at this level of teaching. Teacher has to frame open ended question so their imagination and creative thinking may challenged. Type of questions: Essay Type Open Ended Type

41. Merits of Reflective Level Learner Centred : The learner himself sets his goal and discovers the path of reaching the goal. Thoughful Learning : The teaching learning process act is carried at more advanced level. It provides better oppurtunities for the utilisation of one's cognitive abilities to acquire information, generalised insight and problem solving skills among students. It helps in eqipping the students to face and solve their problems in and outside the walls of their schools. Classroom environment become democratic, healthy lively and exciting because teacher wecomes the students problem posing, raising and probable responses of problems.

42. Merits of Reflective Level Sense of independency: The credit of the teaching at reflective level lies in equipping the students with the enhanced ability to develop and solve problems on their own. The reflective level teaching makes possible the maximum transfer of learning or training which is otherwise missing at the memory and understanding level Helpful in creating strong bond between teacher and students. Freedom from rigid and structured book based problems Flexibility to be employed for the teaching

43. Demerits of Reflective Level The teaching situations are organised in a flexible way. In the absence of any formal course material, the students are unable to acquire the systematic and organised knowledge of the subject material pertaining to the school subjects. The freedom and flexibility enjoyed by the students in the unstructured teaching learning situation may drift the students from the learning path. They can waste their time and energy in discovering of facts, raising irrelevant questions and pursuing meaningless investigation.On account of lack of experiences, required maturity and undeveloped cognitive abilities they may arrive at errorneos conclusion and wrong answers to their problems.

44. Demerits of Reflective Level It is limited to practical oriented subjects such as sciences. It is usually applicable to the learning of the subjects and areas where discovery and problem solving approach can be better employed. It requires more efforts on part of teacher. They have to gain complete mastery over the facts and genralised insights often cutting across various subjects and life situations. They must be aquainted well with th eprocesses of discovery and problem centred teaching and have enough patience and competency for the proper organisation of classroom environment and effective handling of the teaching learning situation at the reflective level.

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