Pedagogy of Mathematics

TEACHING AIDS (AUDIO VISUAL AIDS)

Meaning:

For the smooth, powerful and uninterrupted flow of communication between the teacher and taught, a teacher has to make use of different type of aid material in the form of effective communicating link between him and his students. The charts, maps, models, slides, films, projectors, radio, television etc. which help the teacher in a good communication, healthy classroom interaction and effective realization of his teaching objectives may be termed as aids in the field of teaching and learning.

Definition:

          “Audio-visual aids are those aids which help in completing the triangular process of learning i.e, motivation, classification and stimulation”

                                                                                   Carter V. Good

“Audio –visual aids are any device which can be used to make the learning experience more concrete more realistic and more dynamic”

                                                                                 Kinder S James

“Audio Visual aids are anything by means of which learning process may be encouraged or carried on through the sense of hearing or sense of sight”.

                                                           Goods Dictionary of Education

IMPORTANCE OF AUDIO-VISUAL AIDS

         

Audio-visual aids used in the teaching-learning process have wide significance from the view points of teaches as well as learners .The importance of audio-visual aids are summarized below

1.     Use of maximum senses

Senses are said to be gateway of knowledge. Audio-visual aids call for the utilization of as many senses as possible and thereby facilitate the acquisition of maximum learning on the part of students.

2.     Based on maxims of teaching

 The use of audio-visual aids provide assistance to the teacher for following maxims of teaching like ‘simple to complex’, ‘concrete to abstract’, ‘known to unknown’, and ‘learning by doing’, etc.

3.     Helpful in the process of attention

 Attention is a key factor in any process of teaching-learning. Audio-visual aids help the teacher in creating proper situations and environment for capturing as well as maintaining the interest and attention of the students in the classroom activities.

4.     Reduce Verbalism

According to Raymond Wyman “Verbalism both printed and spoken does not prove much effective in the process of teaching and learning”. Teaching aids reduces this verbalism.

5.     A good motivating force

 Audio-visual aids match with the inner urges, instincts, basic drives and motives of the students and thus prove a potent motivating force for energizing learners to ‘learn effectively’.

6.     A good substitute for direct experience

Audio-visual aids provide valuable substitute for the real object or phenomena for making the learning as realistic and meaningful as possible.

7.     Provide adequate impression or image

 The key for the effective learning lies in the quality of sensory images or impressions made through the experiences gained at the time of learning. Audio-visual aids help in adequate retention by leaving behind a permanent mark in the form of adequate impressions or images and thus aid to effective and relatively permanent learning.

8.     Clarity of the subject matter

Audio-visual aids bring clarity to the various difficult and abstract concepts and phenomena related to various subjects.

9.     Helps in fixing up the new learning

Audio-visual aids help in achieving their objectives by providing numerous activities, stimuli and experiences to the learners.

10.            Save time and energy

 Much of the time and energy of both the teacher and the students may be saved on account of the use of audio-visual aids as most of the abstract concepts and phenomena may be easily clarified, understood and assimilated through their use.

11.            Meet the individual differences requirements

 These are wide individual differences among learners. The use of various types of Audio-visual aids helps in meeting the requirements of different types of pupils.

12.            Encouraging healthy classroom interaction

 Success of a teaching-learning act depends upon an appropriate classroom interaction. Audio-visual aids through its wide variety of stimuli, provision of active participation and vicarious experiences encourage healthy classroom interaction for the effective realization of teaching-learning objectives.

13.            Solve the problem of Indiscipline

 With the introduction of Audio-visual aids, there is less room for the creation of a passive, dull and uninteresting environment in the classroom.

14.            Help in the development of scientific attitude

Use of Audio-visual aids help in cultivating scientific attitude among students.

15.            Help in the development of higher faculties

 Verbalism leads to memorization. It does not aid to the development of higher faculties of mind. Use of Audio-visual aids stirs the imagination, thinking process and reasoning power of the students.

16.            Provide reinforcement to the learners

 Audio-visual aids prove effective reinforcing agents by increasing the probability of the re-occurrence of the responses associated with them and thus render valuable help in the process of teaching and learning.

17.            Help in positive transfer of learning and training

Use of Audio-visual aids helps in the direction by making possible the appropriate positive transfer of learning and training to the other learning and training situations in the classroom as well as in the real world.

CLASSIFICATION OF AUDIO-VISUAL AIDS

Classification: 1

The first Approach

The audio visual aids can be classified in various manners. But the following classification is very popular and commonly used

Visual Aids:

Those teaching aids are included under this class which can be looked at for gaining knowledge. Because knowledge is acquired through the organ of vision, so these aids called visual aids.

The visual aids further divided into TWO

1.   Projected Aids – Under the projected aid category we include all such visual aid material and equipments that can be utilized for gaining information about an object or event by getting it projected on a screen.

Eg. Motion pictures and film strips, Epidiascope, Magic Lantern, and different types of projectors like Micro overhead projector, Opaque projector

2.   Non-Projected Aids – Under the non projected aids category we include such visual aid material and equipments that help us in learning directly by use our visual senses without being necessarily projecting the related object and events on some screen.

Slno	NON PROJECTED AIDS
	Graphic Aids	Display boards	3- D Aids	Audio Aids	Activity Aids
1	Cartoons	Black board	Globe	Radio	Computer Assisted Instruction
2	Charts	Bulletin board	specimen	Recordings	Demonstration
3	Comics	Flannel board	Mockups	Television	Dramatics
4	Diagrams	Magnetic board	Objects		Experimentation
5	Flash Cards		Puppets		Field Trips

Audio Aids:

The teaching aids included under this class are those by which knowledge is gained by hearing. They provide knowledge through the organ of hearing, so they are called audio aids.

Eg. Gramophone, Radio, Tape recorder, Lingua phone, Headphone Dictaphone

Audio Visual Aids:

Under this class are included those teaching aids through which knowledge is acquired using the organs of both hearing and vision. In other words they are related to our organs of hearing and vision simultaneously. The child sees with his eyes and listen with his ears and tries to memorize the teaching points.

Eg. Picture ,TV, Video, CD’s, sound motion pictures, video films, radio vision, and Computer Assisted Instruction

Classification: 2  Edgar Dale’s Classification

Edgar dale ‘s Cone of Experience

Edgar dale, the chief exponent of audio visual aids in teaching is the originator of the ‘cone of experience’. The diagram appears in his book Audio Visual Methods in Teaching (1964)

All the learning experiences which can be utilized for classroom teaching are shown by Edgar dale in a practical device ’pinnacle’ which he called the ‘cone of experience’. It may be stated that the ‘cone ‘ classifies the audio visual aids according to their effectiveness in communication aid at the base of the cone as ‘most effective ‘ relative effect gradually decreases.

 

                                               Verbal Symbols

                                                   Visual Symbols                        

                                                     Recording, Radio, Still pictures

                                                         Motion Pictures

                                                          Television

Indirect                                                                                                        Direct

        Concrete                                                               Exhibits                           Concrete

Experiences                                                              Field Trips                Experiences

                                                                                  Demonstrations

                                                              

                                                                               Dramatic Experience

 

                                                                                   Contrived Experiences

                                                                                       Direct Purposeful  

                                                                                           Experiences

The experiences include in the cone are as indicated below.

                                                   

1.      Direct Purposeful- these are first hand experiences which serves as the foundation of the learning. This is taken from meaning information and ideas through seeing, hearing, touching, tasting and smelling. It is considered as learning by doing,

2.      Contrived Experiences- Makes use of representative models or mock ups of reality for practical reasons and make a real-life experiences that are accessible to student’s perceptions and understanding.

3.      Dramatized Experiences- By dramatization, students can participate in a constructed experience.

4.      Demonstrations – A visualized explanation of an important fact, idea or process by the use of photographs, drawings, films, displays or guided motion. It is showing how things are done.

5.      Study Trips- These are excursions and visits conducted to observe an event that is unavailable within the classrooms

6.      Exhibits – These are displays to be seen by listeners. They consist of working models arranged meaningfully or photographs with models, charts and posters. It is sometimes called “for your eyes only”.

7.      Television and Motion pictures- This are reconstruction of reality of the past so effectively that we are made to feel we are there. The value of the messages communicated by the films lies in the feeling of realism, emphasis on persons personality, their organized presentations and their ability to select, dramatize, highlight and clarify

8.      Still pictures, recordings and radio- these are visual and auditory devices used by an individual or a group. Still pictures lack the sound and motion of a sound film. The radio broadcast of an actual event may often be likened to a televised broadcast minus its visual dimensions

9.      Visual Symbols- They are no longer realistic reproduction of physical things for these are highly abstract representations. Examples are charts, graphs, maps and diagrams.

10. Verbal Symbols – They are not like the objects or ideas for which they stand. They usually do not contain visual clues to their meaning. Written words fall under this category. It may be a word for a concrete object (book), an idea (freedom of speech), scientific principle or a formula.

 Classification: 3 The Technological Approach

This approach advocated by the educational technologies tries to classify the audio visual material and equipment into two major heads.

Hardware Approach:

 In this category of hardware we can include all those audio visual equipments and appliances which may be labeled from the scientific and technological point of view as machines. These may be further divide into Simple hardware and Complex hardware depending upon the technological complexity involved in their operation and application

Simple hardware includes episcope, diascope, slide projector, film strip projector, opaque projector and overhead projector.

Complex hardware include radio, television, telepicture, record player, tape recorder, motion picture, video cassette player and computer

Software Approach:

Hardware cannot operate or made functionable without the aid of softwares. Eg. Use of slides and film stripes in the magic lantern and various projectors are take the help of tapes of the functioning of tape recorder and video machines. Various types of graphic aids and projective aid material like charts, maps, graphs, pictures, models, photographs etc can be utilized as a feeding material for making most of the hardware functionable.

PROJECTED & NON PROJECTED AIDS

PROJECTED AIDS

Epidiascope (Opaque Projector):

The epidiascope is an instrument which can project images or printed matter or small opaque objet o screen, or it can project images of a 4 x 4’ slide. With the help of an epidiascope any chart, diagram, map, photograph and picture can be projected on the screen without tearing it off from the book. An epidiascope serves two purposes. It works as epidiascope when it is used to project an opaque object. It works as diascope when it is used to project slides.

Overhead Projector (OHP):

Overhead projector is a device that can project a diagram, a map, a table or for that matter, anything written on transparent sheet, upon a screen before students in a class. This make teaching illustrative and impressive.  It also saves a great deal of the teacher time used in drawing or writing them. These transparencies can also be preserved by the teacher for future. Display while taking up the same topic.

LCD Projector:

An LCD projector is a type of video projector for displaying video, images or computer data on a screen or other flat surface. It is the modern equivalent of the slide projector or overhead projector. A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a thin, flat display device made up of any number of color or monochrome pixels arrayed in front of a light source or reflector.

Film Strip Projector:

          A film strip is 35mm wide and has series of 12 to 48 pictures frames arranged in sequences so that they develop a theme. A film strip can be prepared by taking a series of photographs using a

35mm camera and then taking a positive print of the negative film on another 35mm film.

Motion pictures:

Motion pictures are moving colorful pictures combined with sound. It is a very powerful visual aid. A number of motion pictures have been produced for teaching computer science. Motion pictures have more instructional value than any other audio visual aid. It is due to the presence of movement. The film puts before us the learning situations which look to be quite real and actual. The child sees something is happening and his experience is direct.

Slide Projector:

Slide projector has a frame containing two slits into which slides are put for focusing. They are manually and continuously replaced by other slides one after another.

An improved type of a slide projector consists of a circular disc with more slits where even a hundred or more slides can be inserted in a sequential order which can be projected on the screen with the help of a remote control switch to be suitably manipulated by the teacher as he delivers the lesson.

Television:

In the modern times, the television is being used as a forceful medium in the field of teaching. It is a modern appliance which blends the qualities of radio and film. It can be used to make up the deficiency of trained teachers and well equipped laboratory. The Doordarshan has presented several programmes for this type of teaching, some of these programmes are meant for the teachers and others for the students.

NON- PROJECTED AIDS

Graphic Aids

Charts:

The objective of a chart is to display that concept or principle that is difficult to understand by the medium of words. It is generally used for the symbolic presentation of a fact, picture and show relationship for presentation of information in brief for giving concrete shape to abstract concepts. Types of chart are

Tree chart      - display the development of relationship of different components.

 Flow chart    - display the development of a process

Table chart    - used for the comparative study of different facts

Graphs:

Graphs and tables are used as important teaching aid for teaching computer science. Sometimes a teacher can not accurately put into words alone what she wants to say but she can tell them through tables, graphs. A simple line graph can convey a lot of information. Students can compare the data available and they can put the facts and figures in tables Eg. pie graphs, 2D graph, line graph etc.

Maps:

The use of maps is essential to study the main historical events, geographical facts and places. Through the readymade maps are available in the market, but it is better if the teacher prepares them himself and mark only those things beautifully which are required. The teacher must write the name, heading, direction and symbol etc on the map.

Pictures:

The pictures are used when neither the real objects nor their models are unavailable. Pictures are however cheaper than these models and real objects and these are easily available in the market. When the teacher imparts knowledge with the help of pictures, the pupil’s attention remains focused on the lesson. This enables the teacher to achieve the objectives successfully. If the ready-made pictures are not available, then the teacher should prepare them himself in order of clarify the things related to the lesson.

Posters:

Big picture meant for display.

Cartoons:

They are meant for conveying messages in an amusing manner.

Comics:

They meant for conveying messages through a short story and the characters will speak the dialogue and so on.

Display Boards

Blackboard:

The black board and chalks are as important to the teacher as the weapons to a soldier. It is the oldest and best friend of a teacher .it is a mirror through which students visualize all about the teacher’s mind, his way of explaining, illustrating and teaching as a whole. It is the most universally used aid.

Bulletin board:

The bulletin board is very useful for giving information and news relating to science topics, exhibiting strange pictures and information about the lesson being taught in the class. Cuttings from various news papers and magazines etc. can be put up on the bulletin board.

Flannel Board:

In the classroom, the flannel board is fixed near the black board. The teacher uses this board for exhibiting life history of scientists etc. with the help of the paper cuttings etc. the ideal size of the board is 60*75cm. the parts to be shown on it should have sandpaper fixed under it because sandpaper sticks on flannel by slightly pressing it over and can be taken out easily.

Magnetic Board:

It is also meant for displaying images wherever required with the help of magnetic strips placed in all the image intact in  the four corners of the image in order to hold the image intact in the display. The surface of the board is made up of tin or iron sheet, covered with a cotton cloth.

Three Dimensional Aids

Specimen:

It is nothing but a small portion of the actual or one among the actual thing. For example, the electronic components constituting a micro computer can be shown separately through specimen.

Globe:

It is used to locate the positions of various places or towns or countries in the map and through which one exactly points out the position of a country or a place with the help of latitude and longitude in degrees.

Models:

Models are substitute for real things. A model is a three dimensional representation of a real thing. Models are concrete objects to explain clearly the structure or function of real things. Models are working as well as static. A working model will secure immediate attention and serve as motivation to learn.

Models can be prepared with several kinds of materials like cardboard, plastic, wood, plaster of Paris, clay and thermocol etc.

Real objects:

The real objects are very important in the field of science. On the basis of perception of objects thee students gets an apparent experiences. Objects like printer, floppy, CD, pen drive, etc can be shown in the class. Seeing the objects face to face the students get familiarized with these objects.

Activity Aids

            They are not the material aids, but they are nothing but all the activities provided by the teacher like fieldtrips , science fairs and so on to the students to make them get direct first hand experiences on the content.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF APPROPRIATE TECHING AIDS

Adequate teaching aids should be made available to accomplish effective teaching in Computer science. To be effective, aids should be used to achieve definite objective and they should be well constructed to gain the learners' attention and sustain his interest. It follows therefore, that teaching aids must be carefully selected and used. When selecting teaching aids, teachers should apply the same guidelines used when choosing-learning activities. These are:

Relevancy:

The aid used should be quite relevant to the topic in hand.

Suitability:

It should suit the topic as best as possible by making its study quite comprehensive, interesting, permanent and effective

Educative:

The aid should have specific educational value besides being interesting and motivating.

Learner Centered:

The aid material selected should be such that it suits the age level, grade level, interest other unique characteristics of the student of the class

Simplicity:

The aid used should be quite simple in its construction and use. It must also be able to convey its sense as simply as possible.

Environment centered:

The aid material should suit the requirement of the physical, social and cultural environment of the students.

Practicability:

The aid material should be selected in view of the prevailing circumstances, available resources and purposes to be served.

Objective Attainment

The aid material should be so selected as to help in the proper realization of the instructional objective of the topic in hand.

Learning objectives

The teacher should select those audio visual aids according to those learning objectives which he determines and defines during the planning phase.

a) Cognitive objectives can be achieved successfully by using every type of audio visual aids

b) Affective objectives are achieved by using gramophone, radio, tape recorder, television, pictures, cinema, and excursion.

C) Psychomotor objectives are achieved by language, tape recorder, gramophone, and models.

Who the users will be

Choosing material because someone has recommended it as a really good resource does not ensure it will be effective. It is important to consider who are the users and their age expectations and the concept of using the aid should be considered for selecting the aid.

Where the materials used

Before selecting a teaching aid it is important to consider whether it is used in an ordinary classroom, or in a lecture call, community room, seminar table etc.

What facilities will be available?

Will these be suitable seating arrangements, projector, flip charts, computer, videotape player, good lighting, ventilation in the place whose the aid used should be looked after. Planning and preparing transparencies without a projector is useless. Hence facilities should be arranged.

How the materials should be used

It is important to plan whether the teaching aid is used for interactive group work, project assignments etc. before selecting a teaching aid the above criteria should be planned.