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SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHING METHODS

UNIT ONE: DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF SOCIAL STUDIES

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Every subject has its own rules and guidelines that have to be followed to ensure that
meaningful learning takes place among learners. This is called methodology, the
procedures or steps, which you would have to master as teachers and educators. For a
start, you are being introduced in this unit to what constitutes the basis or essence of
social Studies as a discipline. You would be introduced to the definition, scope, aims and
objectives of the discipline.

1.1 DEFINITION OF SOCIAL STUDIES

There are no universally accepted definitions of Social Studies because of the eclectic
nature of the discipline. That is, the subject selects its content from a wide variety of
disciplines such as Geography, Economics, Political Science, History, Sociology,
Anthropology, and Archaeology among others. However, the following definitions are
relevant to the meaning of the discipline.

Social Studies can be defined as:

a) The study of man in his environment.

b) A way of life, a practice of living effectively within one’s immediate cultural

environment and the modern world at large.

c) The application of the relevant knowledge and skills from the social sciences, art and
science for better living.

d) A discipline in which the teaching and learning of attitudes and skills over-shadow the
acquisition of facts and information.

e) A subject designed to enable individuals become socially competent and efficient.

By and large, from all these definitions, it could be deduced that Social Studies pays
attention to man within the context of his environment but not just to man and his
environment.
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1.2 SCOPE OF SOCIAL STUDIES

Social Studies has a relatively wide scope due to its eclectic nature. In fact, it deals with
man in his physical, social, economic, political, historical and cultural environments.

Furthermore, in order to reflect the real existence of man within his culture in terms of
social and physical relatedness to his fellow men and the outside world at large, Social
Studies has been made an integrated social science subject. However, the integration has
made it possible for the subject to have disciplinary ability and capability not found in
other social science disciplines with which it integrated.

Through the wide scope nature of Social Studies, its accompanying concepts and
teachings, it has been possible to learn about the problems of man’s survival within his
immediate surroundings.

In scope, Social Studies is related to other disciplines such as Geography, Economics,

Political Science, Sociology, Psychology, and History among others.

Geography deals with man and his environment. Political Science explains how man
governs himself. History explains man’s daily events from the past to the present.
Economics deals with man’s production and consumption. Psychology explains man’s
behavior. Sociology studies man’s social relationship within his society while
Anthropology deals with the study of races.

1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF SOCIAL STUDIES

Generally Social Studies objectives vary greatly from one culture to another and from
generation to generation. In fact, the objectives depend primarily on the past and present
experiences. However, the subject’s aims are to:

a) Assist man to acquire skills for solving societal and environmental problems.

b) Influence man’s attitude positively to social, cultural, economic, political values and the
total environment.

c) Create awareness and sensitive to man’s environments.

d) Encourages voluntary participation in social and civic duties as well as develops the
sense of responsibility.
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e) Equips men with the basic understanding of the knowledge, of the total environment.

Meanwhile, the following are the general objectives of Social Studies to develop in the
students:

(i) The ability to adapt to their changing environment;

(ii) A desire and capacity for independent; learning, through the collection of facts and
information, necessary for taking rational decisions in human affairs;

(iii) The right type of values, skills and attitudes;

(iv) Good citizens, capable and willing to contribute to the development of the society;

(v) The spirit of national consciousness and national unity.

For the case of Rwanda the general objectives are to:

a) Help the learner understand the need and values of good citizenship, like responsibility,
culture of peace, tolerance, justice, democracy, patriotism, solidarity and national unity
and reconciliation, and his/her role in promoting these values.

b) Help the learner understand the interdependence of people, the physical environment,
and how it affects the quality of people’s lives.

c) Develop in the learner an understanding of the main activities that generate wealth in
Rwanda, such as agriculture, industries and tourism, and their importance to the family,
community and country.

d) Help the learner to acquire work ethic, method and team spirit that will enable him/her
to participate in developing resources for personal and collective welfare.

e) Empower the learner to understand the development and nature of various cultural,
administrative and political institutions, properties and practices in his/her society and
that of others.

f) Help the learner to develop critical thinking and a sense of curiosity and searching for
further knowledge and skills through reading, drawing and interpreting sources of
information.
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g) Equip the learner with basic elements of business knowledge and skills, which will
enable him/her to effectively participate in the socio-economic development of the
country.

h) Develop in the learner responsible participatory behaviors in addressing social

challenges like HIV/AIDS, environment protection, family planning, population growth,
gender equity, as well as human and children’s rights.

i) Help the learner to understand Rwanda’s geographical, political and development

linkages with the rest of the rest of the world.

UNIT TWO: INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF

SOCIAL STUDIES

2.0 INTRODUCTION

This unit presents the actual selection of Social Studies contents and the formulation of
instructional objectives in Social Studies. In fact, once the Social Studies structure is
properly comprehended and the problems of defining the scope and determining the
sequence of the contents of the subject are resolved, selection of the actual contents for
the teaching and learning of the social studies cones in. This is closely followed by the
formulation of the instructional objectives all these are explained comprehensively in this
unit.

2.1 PLANNING FOR THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF SOCIAL STUDIES

The selection of Social Studies contents is the principal aspect of the planning for the
teaching and learning of the subject. Therefore the selection of Social Studies contents at
any level of education can be made from any or all of the following:

(a) The learner’s experiences

(b) The people’s experiences within the school immediate community;
(c) The people’s experiences in the other communities distant to the school environment;
(d) The relevant academic disciplines of the social sciences, arts, sciences and so on.

Many people believe that Social Studies cannot stand on its own, that it has no identity of
its own. In an attempt to tackle this problem, a school of thought has suggested the
paramouncy of the relevance of the Social Studies education being given to the
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experiences of the people in the immediate community of the school. Following this
suggestion, teachers are advised to select the Social Studies contents of their respective
schools from within the experiences of the people in the immediate community.

Another school has advocated that the selection of the contents be drawn from the
experiences of the learners in conformity with the current world educational philosophy of
child-centeredness or learner-centeredness. But a more formidable and articulate move
tends to support the use of problems approach in selecting the Social Studies contents.
The argument for the choice is that Social Studies is essentially a problems-solving
approach discipline and that if the contents are drawn from the problems experienced by
the learners and people in the immediate community, the Social Studies education given
will be real and comprehensive.

However, which-ever approach is used the final determination of the Social Studies
contents should meet the following criteria:

(a) They should make clear contribution to the achievement of the educational goal of the
nation.

(b) They should be able to meet all the cognitive, affective and psychomotor objectives of

Social Studies.

(c) They should be able to provide a variety of experiences capable of contributing to the
total and balanced development of the learners.

(d) The contents selected should be appropriate to the general level of development of
the learners.

(e) They should be relevant to the real life of the learners.

(f) They should be interrelated.

(g) Learners should be involved in the planning.

At this stage, the formulation of specific and instructional objectives in consonance with
general objectives and the contents selected for the subject should take place.
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2.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

Out of the general objectives of Social Studies, many relatively specific objectives are
generated. It will be tremendous assistance for a practicing teacher of Social Studies to
get himself familiar with a good number of these objectives. They are very fundamental
to the effective teaching and learning of Social Studies at all levels – primary, secondary
and tertiary institutions.

Some of the specific objectives listed in the Rwandan curriculum of Social Studies are as
follow: Social Studies will develop:

Social Studies teachers should cultivate the habit of developing their own specific
objectives relevant to their own teaching-learning situations as a future guide and
reminder of their intention to enable students accomplish certain learning tasks within a
relatively Short and

specific time like one week, two weeks, one school term or even one year. Such specific
objectives should, however, always be made known to the students in order to motivate
and sum up in them a state of preparedness and learning readiness in the school. This
habit would undoubtedly contribute positively to the teaching effectiveness of teachers.

2.3 INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES

They are objectives in which the teacher expresses his/her intention in respect of what
he/she expects the students to achieve in a lesson period of thirty, forty or sixty minutes.
Instructional objectives are also sometimes referred to as behavioral objectives. So
instructional objectives should be designed in such a way that they are achievable and
within the period of a lesson for which they are stated. They should also be objectives
that are measurable or possible to assess the extent to which a teacher succeeds or fails
in realizing.

In addition, the instructional objectives should be clearly explained to the students before
the commencement of each lesson. Instructional objectives are not independent of the
Social Studies general and specific objectives. As a rule, instructional objectives should be
derived from the specific objectives. Where there are no specific objectives, they are
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generated from the general objectives. But it is better for the teacher of subject like
Social Studies that is, not strictly sequential in nature to derive his lesson objectives from
the specific objectives in order to avoid confusion and to be more systematic and more
effective as a teacher.

Furthermore, it is important to stress that the formulation of instructional objectives is

somehow technical and requires deep reflection on the part of the teacher. But with
constant practice however, a Social Studies teacher soon acquires the competence.

Meanwhile, a number of principles such as those discussed below have been

developed to guide teachers in the construction of these objectives because of
their technical nature. Therefore, an instructional objective should be:

(i) Clearly expressed. For example, “At the end of the lesson, students should be able
to demonstrate attitude of good citizenship” is a vague objective. What is citizenship?
What is good citizenship and which of the relevant thousands of attitudes we expect the
students to demonstrate? How do we expect the student to show such an attitude of good
citizenship? These are some of the fundamental problems that make the above objective
vague.

(ii) Stated in simple language clearly understood by the students also so that
effective learning may occur in the process of teaching.

(iii) Expressed in unambiguous terms. For instance, “students should be able to know
the duties of the government to its people” is an instructional objective that is capable of
several interpretations. For example, to be able to consider a student as haven known the
duties of the government, does he have to demonstrate his knowledge in synthesizing
analyzing, adapting, and understanding these duties?

(iv) Achievable within the specified period of the lesson. It is bad teaching and a
reflection of poor preparation if a teacher could not finish the amount of task allotted to a
teaching period and therefore unable to realize his objective. Such a lesson gives the
students a floating knowledge which the teacher was not able to help them fix up to
logical conclusion. That is a dangerous knowledge.
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(v) Contain only one item of measurement or “action verb” in order to avoid
certain problems that may arise later in the process of working towards the achievement
of the objective and in the process of evaluating it.

For inst ance, let us look at the following objectives:

At the end of the lesson, students should be able to describe and name the features in
their immediate physical environment. In teaching toward this end, a teacher is most
likely to mix up both the description and naming of the physical features simply because
he has lumped them together in his objective, so they might not be taught well and
students may also be confused and unclear about it all. Again, in the evaluation of this
objective, it is possible for some students to do well in the naming aspect of the lesson
and perform poorly in the description or vice versa. Some others may not do well in both
aspects. In both cases, it means the teacher has to teach the two aspects again since he
has put them together in his objectives.

The proper thing however, is to break the above instructional objective into two thus:

(a) Students should be able to name the features in their immediate physical
environment.

(b) Students should be able to describe the features in their immediate physical
environment.

When this is done, the objectives could be taught better one at a time and the students
achievement in each of the two objectives should be more accurately assessed while their
problems in respect of each of the two objectives could also be more properly diagnosed.

(vi) An instructional objective should be measurable, that is. It should be possible to

evaluate the objective at the end of the lesson. For example:

(a) Students should be able to compare the different forms of government in Africa.

(b) Students should be able to plan by themselves similar visits to a television house.

(c) Students should be able to organize drama in illustrating the evil of civil war.

By and large, once the methods of formulating the Social Studies objectives are
comprehended, the rate of progress in the preparation of the remaining stages of the
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planning process becomes faster. These stages involve the preparation of scheme of work
and lesson.

2.4 Scheme of work

A scheme of work is a detailed analysis and sub-division of the syllabus into weeks, terms,
and periods for the purpose of orderly and systematic teaching or learning. It indicates the
amount of work or ground a teacher or student-teacher is likely to cover during a week, a
month, a term, or a whole year.

In other words, a scheme of work is simply the survey of the work a teacher intends to cover
during a prescribed period. In order to do this, the teacher must be familiar with the content
of the subject he or she is planning to prepare a scheme of work.

It can also be defined as the logical breakdown of the teaching syllabus into topics and sub-
topics to be covered per week. It is a planned teaching/learning process over a given period
and with references to the syllabus.

The teacher must become thoroughly familiar with all official material published on the
subject and the scheme of work is made on a weekly, monthly or unit basis for the whole
year. Syllabuses have the tendency to be wide, so have to distinguish the important and
essential sections from the less important and subsidiary sections. New teachers can work
out this scheme with the help of a senior teacher.

The scheme of work helps the teacher to come to grips with the syllabus and it ensures a
proper balance throughout the year. Some topics will be given too much time while others
which are not to the teacher’s liking are neglected altogether. So, schemes of work can be
amended as the year goes on. It makes it easy for all parties concerned to check the
headway that is being made with the year’s work. No scheme of work should be used year
after year without revision and improvement.

It can also be defined as the logical breakdown of the teaching syllabus into topics and sub-
topics to be covered per week. It is a planned teaching/learning process over a given period
and with references to the syllabus.

The scheme of work is a plan which organizes course content, and the learning of important
skills such as reasoning and assignment writing, breaking them up into teaching weeks or
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lessons, and putting them into a logical teaching order. The best schemes suggest active
teaching and learning strategies that require the students to develop an understanding of
the content, but also make them use important skills.

2.5 Reasons for scheming

 It makes the teacher to read ahead and therefore becomes more firm and steady in content
and methods to be used.
 It helps a teacher to provide continuity in the lessons and sequence in the learning in an
orderly manner. This approach gives students a sense of order in whatever they are
learning.
 It makes the teacher confident in his work because he will have consulted a variety of
relevant sources of information, selected suitable media and materials for instruction and
prepared the appropriate instructional objectives.
 The scheme of work ensures that the syllabus is completed or covered within a given period
of time. This is made possible by the use of a topic schedule. Without a scheme of work, a
teacher may take a lot of time on one or a few topics leaving him with little time to attend to
other topics.
 It helps the teacher to cater for the needs of his particular class.
 The use of a scheme of work helps the teacher to exhaust the syllabus in details, hence
striking a balance between examination requirements and the educational value of the
topics he has planned to teach.
 By the end of the course or specified period, a teacher can study the scheme of work to see
what he taught well and what he did not teach well; what he covered and what he might
have left out. This will help a teacher make adjustments in his instructional design and
methods.

2.6 Lesson plan

Planning requires the teacher to make decisions about the pupils ‘ needs, the most
appropriate goals and objectives to help meet those needs, the motivation necessary to
attain their goals and objectives and the most appropriate strategies for attainment of those
goals and objectives.
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The planning function occurs when the teacher is alone and has time to consider long-term
and short-term plans: pupils’ progress; the availability of resources, equipment and
materials.

Too often teachers do not have a plan for teaching .They may have a few ideas, but not an
actual plan. This lack of planning can create a chaotic atmosphere in any classroom.
Planning involves setting realistic objectives for the class as a whole and for individual
students.

Planned experiences encourage initiative and creativity. In planning for student growth, you
should consider learning options and identify necessary resources to meet the individual
needs of your students.

A lesson plan is the most critical part of a teacher’s instructional activities. It is a well
prepared, systematically arranged programme through which the desired message or
information is conveyed to the target audience through the appropriate media. It is a short,
carefully developed and, usually written outline designed to help the teacher to achieve the
objectives of a specific topic, skill, or idea.
It can also be described as the breakdown of the school syllabus components into a
complete but manageable outline which is to be followed in the teaching / learning process.
During the process of planning a lesson, a teacher maps all the activities proposed to take
place in a classroom situation or during outside activities. He/ she produces an instructional
guide to the topic and sub-topic to be delivered to the learning audience in addition to
mapping out of the learning audience. It involves a lot of mapping out of the strategies,
methods and resources needed to present a lesson within a given situation, class level and
time. It requires you to visualize all the available resources, room allocations, during and
after the session.

It is necessary that a teacher or a student teacher prepares a lesson plan due to the
following reasons;
 A lesson plan acts as a form of reminder of what a teacher or a student- teacher is going to
teach and how he intends to teach it.
 The actual lay-out of the lesson makes it necessary for a teacher to consider factors which
he might otherwise ignore or skip.
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 The lesson plan encourages a logical development and preparation.

 To avoid instant planning or off-the-cuff teaching, this, because it lacks a good foundation,
often results in poor teaching.
 To use as future reference, to reinforce the strengths and improve the weaknesses revealed
in the previous plan and the teaching of it.
 It helps in creating a systematic or structured learning environment.
 A teacher who has a good layout of the lesson plan teaches with confidence, knowing that in
case of any difficulty he/she can fall back on the plan.
 A well-thought out lesson plan directs the teacher to the appropriate method of teaching a
particular topic. The teacher thinks out the best way of putting the information across to the
learners.

Planning requires the teacher to make decisions about the pupils ‘ needs, the most
appropriate goals and objectives to help meet those needs, the motivation necessary to
attain their goals and objectives and the most appropriate strategies for attainment of those
goals and objectives. The planning function occurs when the teacher is alone and has time
to consider long-term and short-term plans: pupils’ progress; the availability of resources,
equipment and materials. Too often teachers do not have a plan for teaching. They may
have a few ideas, but not an actual plan. This lack of planning can create a chaotic
atmosphere in any classroom. Planning involves setting realistic objectives for the class as a
whole and for individual students. Planned experiences encourage initiative and creativity. In
planning for student growth, you should consider learning options and identify necessary
resources to meet the individual needs of your students.

2.7 The necessity of lesson planning

Lessons should reflect emphasis on the learners’ active participation in teaching/learning

situation i.e. is interested in the teacher’s presentation of information by the teacher and in
the work habits of pupils, the way they tackle unexpected problems and their ability to work
with others.

A lesson plan is important for the teacher to have self-confidence and self-assurance; he
knows exactly what his/her approach will be and has a firm idea of how to cope with
probable pupils.
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2.8 Principles of Lesson Planning

- The teacher should prepare a careful but flexible plan. He should be secure in the plan that
he should be free to change it as the developing lesson and the needs of the children
require.

-The teacher must have mastery of and adequate training in the topic from which the
subject-matter has been selected for a certain lesson.

- The teacher must be fully familiar with new methods and techniques of teaching Social
Studies.

- The teacher must know his pupils thoroughly and organize the materials in a psychological
rather than merely a logical fashion. He must understand his pupil’s interest and traits in
order to know how to provide for them.

UNIT THREE: TEACHING OF SKILLS IN SOCIAL STUDIES

3.0 INTRODUCTION

This unit presents the importance of skills in Social Studies. Skills that can be acquired in
the teaching of Social Studies include experimentation, observation, questioning, speaking,
writing, listening among others. Impacting these elements in the Social Studies classroom is
one of its most important and distinctive areas as a discipline. It distinguishes it from the
Social Science with focus mainly on the acquisition academic (cognitive) knowledge.

3.1 TEACHING SKILLS IN SOCIAL STUDIES

To be able to live effectively in the society as well pass or transmit and receive information
effectively from other persons or objects like paintings, maps, motion pictures, sound tapes,
photographs, television, recordings, globes, video-tapes, film strips, charts, books and other
printed matters, a learner needs to be adequately trained in the use of the whole range of
study, leadership, social communication and intellectual skills. Such skills include those of:

1. Speaking 18. Leadership/cooperative: This includes planning, organizing,

controlling, delegating and motivating.

2. Listening 19. Conduct

3. Reading 20. Model Building/formation

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4. Writing 21. Associative thinking

5. Observing 22. Perceptual thinking

6. Questioning 23. Interviewing

7. Imagination 24. Investigation

8. Experimenting 25. Deductive reasoning

9. Hypothesis formulation 26. Problem solving

10. Variable manipulation 27. Critical thinking

11. Prediction 28. Classification

12. Locating information 29. Inductive reasoning

13. Evaluating information

14. Organising information

15. Interpreting information

16. Synthesizing information

17. Mechanical manipulation

In teaching these skills, teachers are advised to give adequate consideration to

the following points:

(i) The major relevant skills to be developed in each lesson should be identified and may
form part of the instructional objectives of the teacher and explained to the pupils at the
beginning of the lesson.

(ii) Skills should not be taught in isolation. It becomes much more meaningful when they
are emphatically taught during a whole lesson.

(iii) The teaching of skills should be systematic since skills develop only gradually.

(iv) Pupils should be given sufficient opportunities regularly in a variety of situations for
practicing the skills they are taught in the school so that they could retain and perfect the
use of these skills with time.
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UNIT FOUR: TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES

4.0 INTRODUCTION

For the purpose of teaching and learning Social Studies, there are different types of
methods, techniques and strategies that can be employed. Some of this are discussed in
this unit. Again, you are to take careful note of these hints to be a successful teacher in the
classroom.

4.1 INQUIRY METHOD

It is simply a method to find out. It involves experimenting, probing, investigating,

questioning, searching thinking, analyzing, evaluating and so on, with a view to
acquiring, updating or validating knowledge in Social Studies. One major advantage of
this method is that it teaches the students how to think for themselves. Therefore,
the use of inquiry method in Social Studies arises out of the curiosity or inquisitiveness of
the user. This method is the most effectively used with the children in elementary schools.

Procedure for the use of inquiry method:

(i) Identification of problems.

(ii) Collection of information on data or the problem

(iii) Data Analysis based on the information collected.

(iv) Solution to the problem of the analysis

(v) Make generalization from the solution.

4.2 DRAMATIZATION

It simply means imitation, though it is more than this because it involves practising,
initiation, conforming, playing, singing, dancing, controlling, participating, and so
on in the Social Studies teaching and learning process. In fact, it is extremely useful and
effective method in Social Studies lessons especially, when the dramatic presentation
centers on the familiar experiences in the learners’ environment. Therefore, in most cases
emphasis should always be on dramatizing Social studies materials rather than dramatizing
stories.
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However, the following are limitations of the method.

- It is time consuming.

- It may require a lot of costumes

- It is expensive

- It may turn to a mere play, thus the lesson becomes noisy and ineffective.

Meanwhile, the following are the benefits that can be derived from this method:

- It trains the learners in the skills of listening patiently, carefully and courteously.

- It helps to develop in the learners the sense of respect for the opinion of others.

- It gives the individual member of the group the chance to learn the planning strategies,
the logical and sequential procedure of the dramatization.

- It develops in them the attitude of cooperation and desirable special skills.

4.3 DISCUSSION METHOD

This is the act of talking over subjects from various points of view and the teacher acts as a
moderator. The teacher should not dictate or influence students’ view points, but should
motivate them using questions, which can make them reason rather than recall.

These are the merits of this method:

- It develops positive interpersonal relationship because it enables students to interact with

their teachers and mates to gain from each other.

- It can be used to introduce a lesson, to motivate students’ activities and explain

accompanying procedure.

- It enhances learners’ confidence and boldness.

- It promotes clarity of information.

Demerits of this method include:

- It can lead to boredom or lack of interest in the students.

- It can lead to inattention if not properly coordinated.

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- It may be different to cover the syllabus if used frequently.

- It wastes time if not properly organized.

By and large, in the teaching and learning of Social Studies, discussions can be between
and among small or large groups of students during which they contribute, share,
examine, expand, simplify, formulate, classify, propose, suggest, prove, argue, question,
accept, or reject opinions and ideas. However, the teacher’s role is that of a facilitator, a
helper, a moderator, a contributor and a guide.

4.4 SIMULATION METHOD

This is the creation of a model of the real world in which participants assume
different roles and make decisions about issues raised as well as the difficulties
encountered. It is usually designed to reflect the existing or inherited problems
of man in the society. It also involves opportunities for exploration, experimentation,
commitment, and decision-making aimed at resolving important issues and problems
affecting man in his environment. It can be used to introduce, consolidate and summarize
a lesson.

The benefits the learners can derive from this method include:

- They become more actively involved in the teaching-learning process.

- They develop insight into the issues and problems of the society.

- They give free expression to their creative abilities without any inhibitions.

- They appreciate and develop their qualities of leadership or followership.

- They experience and the stimulated consequences of decision and performance on

these and among others.

Demerits

- It is time consuming

- It may lead to loss of interest by the learners if not properly organised.

- It may be expensive if the commercial type is adopted.

- It may require a lot of brainstorm in the part of the teacher and even the learners.
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4.5 ROLE PLAYING

It is a spontaneous dramatization of the contextual life or “total personality” of the

persons or posts whose roles are being played. Therefore, it involves initiating, acting,
managing and emotional display.

It is used to resolve conflicts and solve problems.

It is used to teach feelings of emotion which might be difficult for the teacher to express or
demonstrate by himself.

It gives students the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings freely.

It helps to develop in the learners’ cooperative attitude and the desirable social behavior
as well as the consequences of doing otherwise. However, it should be followed
immediately by an analytical discussion of the roles played, issues raised and resolved.

Finally, role playing needs some preparation on the part of the teacher and the learners
because poor preparations may ridicule the whole situation as a result of poor quality of
output.

4.6 PROBLEM SOLVING

It involves the use of scientific approach to teaching-learning process. It enables the

learner to become aware of the fact that there is an orderly procedure or stages in
thinking and doing things.

Problems solving should be child-centred. That is, those problems that are for the learners
and not teacher’s problems. Therefore, the following are the features of a good problem
in Social Studies:

- It should be relevant to the experiences of the students’ generality

- The learners should state it in a language that is clearly understandable

- It should be challenging and stated in such an attractive manner that could catch the
attention of the learners.

- It should be capable of several interpretations or solutions.

- The solution to the problem should not be too obvious.

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Procedure for problem solving:

1. Identify a problem.

2. State the problem clearly in simple language.

3. Suggest possible solutions to the problems.

4. Discuss the suggested possible solutions

5. Accept reasonable suggestion

6. Determine the solution to the problem through reasonable suggestions.

7. Restate the original problem and solution.

Possible Learners’ centered problem areas that can be considered by the teacher:

(a) Family problems

(b) Academic problems (learning difficulties)

(c) Sex problems

(d) Socio-cultural problem.

(e) Religious problem.

(f) Feeding problems.

(g) Clothing problems.

(h) Transportation problems etc.

QUESTIONING METHOD

It is the most commonly used techniques in teaching, though it is often used in

discouraging manner. It involves the teaching of the learners asking questions throughout
the lesson, that is, from the beginning to the end.

Meanwhile, this method can be used for introduction, presentation and evaluation.
However, there are number of factors to be considered by the teacher while employing
the method such as:

(a) The question should be stated in a clear term, that is, not vague:
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(b) The questions should be of interest to the learners;

(c) The level of difficulty should be within the learners’ ability;

(d) The questions should be logically and sequentially structured, that is, from simple to
complex;

(e) The questions should be within the important areas of study.

However, it develops in the students the habit of critical thinking, enhances learners’
performances and fosters teacher’s presentation in the lesson and in fact, it makes lesson
interesting, lively and emotional. Though, it is time-consuming, noisy and cumbersome if
not properly organized.

4.7 FIELD TRIPS

These are out-door lessons being organized for the students. They are for relevant
observations and for obtaining specific information. Students become actively engaged in
observing, collecting, classifying, studying relationship and manipulating objects or
exploring their environment. It is enjoyable and interest if well planned.

Procedure for Field Trips:

(a) Organizer’s first trip to the area of interest.

(b) Write officially to the area of interest.

(c) Inform the students and their parents what to prepare for (money, materials, etc.)

(d) Inform the school authority for permission and other necessary education
stakeholders, most especially if it is a long trip.

(e) Inform students what to look for during the trip.

(f) Make good arrangement for transportation, feeding and accommodation.

(g) Mandate students to give detail report of the observations during the trip.

(h) The organizers should send letters of appreciation to the areas visited immediately
after the trip.

Merits:
 21

- It makes lessons more practical and lively.

- It enhance cooperative habit in the learners.

- It broadens the learners’ horizon in terms of their immediate environment.

Demerits:

- It is time consuming.

- It may be expensive

- It is burdensome.

4.8 DEBATE METHOD

It is an argumentative formal discussion organized between two or more groups among

the learners on a particular topic of interest. This method is purely learner-centred
because learners are involved mostly in the discussion, the teacher is just a moderator or
an observer or a facilitator.

PROCEDURE FOR DEBATE METHOD

1. Select an interesting topic in Social studies (e.g a teacher is better than a farmer in the
society).

2. Select two groups among the learners. One group in support of the motion the other
group should be against.

3. Choose a moderator (a teacher or student).

4. Choose a timekeeper (student).

5. Choose panel of judges (teachers).

6. Judges should give their report to know the winner.

Merit:

- It makes lesson in Interesting, motivating and realistic.

- It makes learners to be active throughout the lesson.

 22

- It enhance critical thinking in the learners.

- It builds in learners’ confidence and act of public speaking.

- It encourages spirit of cooperation, and leadership and followership.

Demerits

- It may turn the lesson to a noisy situation, that is, noisy.

- It may be boring if not properly organized.

- It wastes time.

UNIT FIVE: MICRO-TEACHING TECHNIQUES IN SOCIAL STUDIES

5.0 INTRODUCTION

Micro teaching techniques constitute an area whereby teachers in training learning to

acquire the rudiments of teaching in the classroom. It is a preparation as to what they
must master when they go to the field to do teaching practice under the supervision of
professionals. It is indeed a preparation for the challenges that await the teacher in his or
her future carrier as an educator.

5.1 MICRO-TEACHING TECHNIQUE

This is a laboratory training procedure geared towards simplification of the complexities of

regular teaching-learning process. It is also a miniature teaching scaled down in terms of
class size, time, task or content and the skill (Cliff 1973). However, in practice, micro-
teaching follows a teach-critique-reteach procedure which involves the
following:

1. The supervisor demonstrates the skill to be practised. This may be live demonstration
of the skill or a video presentation of the skill which has been prerecorded for the purpose.

2. The group members select a topic(s) from a list and prepare the lesson of five to ten
minutes, in which they will practise the particular skill that was demonstrated.

3. The teacher trainee then has the opportunity to practise and evaluate his use of the
skills. Practice takes the form of a ten-minute micro-teaching session in which five to ten
 23

pupils are involved. When real students are used, the other trainee teachers act as
observers and evaluators. When the trainee teachers are used a pupils they play the role
of the pupils at the same time observe and evaluate the lesson objectively together with
the supervisor.

4. The progress of the session and the performance of the “teacher” are evaluated.
There

are many possible ways of doing this. These include observations and comments by the
other trainee teachers, support by note made on pre-prepared evaluation checklists or a
video recording of the performance which can be analyzed by all, including the performer
being evaluated.

5. If the trainee’s performance is not up to the expected standard, he redefines his use of
the skills through additional practise, pre-plans the lesson, emphasising those skills in
which his self-evaluation revealed his performance to be most inadequate. Then he re-
teaches the lesson with another group of pupils and evaluates his second recorded
performance.

6. Finally, when the supervisor judges that the separate basic skills considered important
are sufficiently well mastered and integrated; the trainees continue their practice in
supervised real-life classroom situations (Romizowski 1988).

A closer analysis of the six procedural steps in a micro-teaching session provides three
essential phases in sequential order thus:

 Phase I Modelling
 Phase II Practice
 Phase III Feedback

5.1.1 MODELLING

Modelling has been described by Borg et.al. 91970 a three-step process.

 First, the learner observes a model teaching episode where particular skills are
demonstrated,
 second, the learner attempts to shape his own behaviors after those of the model;
and
 24

 Third, the learner receives feedback on his performance.

In the above procedure, modeling is taken to mean watching of a live, written audiotaped,
videotaped or filmed teaching episode which provides a short but clear example of a
specific teaching skill to be acquired.

Generally speaking, there are several types of models. However, three of them gain
more attention of practitioners and researches in education. They are:

(i) Perceptual models (filmed or videotape teaching segments).

(ii) Symbolic models (written transcripts of a teaching episode or written descriptions of a

skill’s application).

(iii) Audio models (audio taped teaching sequences). (Turney 1973).

The use of any of these models in micro-teaching will depend on a number of factors. It
may be necessary to consider such factors like the skill to be developed, cost of
production or procurement, and motivational value among others. Indeed, studies of a
number of researchers lend considerable support to the use of perceptual models in
micro-teaching. For example, Turney et al. (1973) found the use of videotaped or
perceptual models much more effective than symbolic models. The approach one is
recommending to modern teacher trainers is the use of combination of perceptual and
symbolic models to ensure optimum learning and rewarding micro-teaching experience.

5.1.2 MODEL PRESENTATION

The manner in which models are presented is considered important if they are to produce
desire effects. The following are listed as acceptable manner of model presentation.

1. Inform students about the skill to be watched and acquired.

2. Make students aware of the instances of the skill or its components during the model’s
presentation.

3. Show/present the model in a number of times perhaps several days to enhance its
lasting effect.

4. Allow the student teachers to practize the skill in a similar teaching context to that of
the model.
 25

5. Encourage the use of the combination of teacher models and student models for more
desirable effect.

5.1.3 PRACTICE

This is the act of demonstrating in practical sense the skill being demonstrated in the
video or the film medium. The trainee should be given the opportunity to practice what
he has seen; learning by doing has been the basic principle on which the teaching
learning laboratory is based. After all, we often hear the saying “Practice makes for
perfection”.

5.1.4 FEEDBACK

Feedback is micro-teaching is information a student received concerning his attempts to

imitate certain patterns of teaching. The built-in feedback mechanism in micro-teaching
acquaints the trainee with the success or otherwise of his performance and enables him to
evaluate and to improve his teaching behavior. Electronic media gadgets that can be
used to facilitate effective feedback in micro-teaching include videotape, audio-tape and a
check-list.

It should be emphasized that feedback is a vital aspect of the micro-teaching. The

feedback through whichever medium should be geared towards assisting the trainees to
analyze and improve his teaching.

UNIT SIX: INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN TEACHING OF SOCIAL STUDIES

6.0 INTRODUCTION

The resources employed to facilitate effective teaching-learning process are referred to as

instructional materials. They are information carriers designed specifically to fulfil
objectives in a teaching-learning situation (Akan, 1988). Therefore, in the teaching and
learning of Social Studies, many of these learning materials are utilized in making
teaching more effective and enhancing permanence in learning. These materials are
given different taxonomies viz., visual, audio, audio-visual, hardware, software and a host
of other nomenclatures.

6.1 TYPES OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

 26

These are different types of instructional resources that can be utilized in the teaching and
learning of Social Studies. These resources are classified thus: visual, audio, audio-visual,
projected, non-projected, hardware and software.

6.1.1 VISUAL MATERIALS

These are teaching and learning devices that appeal mostly to the visual sense. In this
category, we have such devices like simple visual devices like pictures such as slides,
filmstrips and transparencies. Like audio-media, they are inexpensive, often simple to
use, and, above all, clear and impressive in their presentation.

6.1.2 AUDIO MATERIALS

These are teaching devices that mostly appeal to auditory sense. They consist of radio
programmes, audio recordings such as cassettes and disc record. Other examples of audio
media are devices like the telephone and walkie-talkie. Since audio aids appeal mostly to
the auditory sense, for them to be effective, pupils must not be auditory impaired. Radios,
record-players and tape-recorders that are becoming common household items could be
judiciously and effectively utilized in the classroom.

6.1.3 AUDIO-VISUAL MATERIALS

These are instructional devices that have the capacity to provide the features of audio and
visual media simultaneously. Typical of media in this category are the television, video-
taped programmes/recordings, sound films, film-strips and slides with synchronized sound.

6.1.4 PROJECTED MATERIAL

They consist of materials containing information which can only be meaningful and
effectively only when projected on the screen using projection equipment that require
electric power supply. These projection equipment are usually referred to as “projector”.
Projectors are of various types. The follows are typical examples: film projectors (8mm,
16mm, 35mm). Film strip projector, opaque projectors and overhead projector (ohp). The
Overhead Projector is commonly found in the classroom. It is designed to perform the
traditional roles of the chalkboard, thus it is regarded as an instructional medium by
design rather than instructional medium by utilization.

6.1.4 NON-PROJECTED MATERIALS

 27

These are instructional materials that can be used without having to resort to any
projection process unlike the projected media. They can be regarded as non-projectuals.
Examples of media under this taxonomy are: charts, posters, regalia or real objects and
models. Usually, three-dimensional models are beautifully made and are large enough to
allow for easy visibility on the part of the learners. It should however be mentioned that
information on non-projected media like charts and posters should not be over loaded with
information.

6.1.5 HARDWARE

Hardware is a term that is used to describe equipment for extracting information from the
software. They are usually bigger and in most cases costlier than the objects that actually
carry information to be extracted. Hardware include such gadgets like the television set,
monitors, projectors of all kinds radio sets, cassettes players. Video player/recorder, turn-
table or disc player, camera and computers. Many of these hardware are found in homes
while only few are available in our schools.

6.1.6 SOFTWARE

This term is used to describe all those materials that carry message/information/content.
These include videotapes, cartridges, audio-tapes. Reel to reel tapes, films,
transparencies, slides, filmstrips and diskettes etc.

6.1.7 COMMUNITY RESOURCE PLACES

These are places within the students’ community that they are of educational importance
e.g museum, palace, market places, factory/industry, quarry, fish pond, among others.

6.1.8 CASE STUDY METHOD

This is a detailed account of the development of a person, a group of people or a situation

over period of time. Therefore in Social Studies, this method can be employed in teaching
and learning. Certain concepts e.g traditional marriage in Rwanda, traditional
commerce/burter trade,etc.

6.1.9 RESOURCE PERSONS

An expert from outside the school community to enlighten and share his/her experience
with the students on a chosen topic in Social studies can be invited by the Social Studies
 28

teacher. That person is referred to as a resource person, such an expert can excite
students, remove boredom and tension, e.g. a lawyer, geographer etc.

6.2 VALUE OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHING

Instructional materials are of paramount importance in the teaching and learning of Social

Studies because of the following functions they perform:

1. They increase the rate of learning and at the same time allow the teacher to use more
time on other gainful activities.

2. They effect a reality of experience that stimulates self-activity on the part of the
learners.

3. They provide learning experience which are not within the immediate classroom
environment.

4. They discourage rote learning by emphasizing realistic learning.

5. They make abstract term, concepts and generalizations more practical and realistic.

6. They help the learners to focus their attention during t aching-learning process.

7. They provide the teacher with the means of guiding and controlling the desirable
responses of the learners in relation to stimulus materials of the learning situations.

8. They develop in the learners, awareness of problem, open up possibilities for

exploration, present meaningful interactions which naturally lead to provision of solutions.

9. They help to stimulate purposeful and utilized self-activity and this is much more
preferable educationally than a more or less passive and often bored listening.

10. They improve the classroom communication process between the teacher and the
learners, with this, the expected improvement in learning output will be accomplished.

UNIT SEVEN: CRITERIA FOR SELECTION AND USE OF INSTRUCTION MATERIALS IN

TEACHING OF SOCIAL STUDIES
 29

7.0 INTRODUCTION

In the teaching and learning of Social Studies, instructional materials are “sine qua non”
resources to be utilized so as to facilitate teacher’s presentation and in fact, to enhance
students’ learning performance. Therefore, for the teacher to select appropriate learning
materials, certain criteria should be considered. The guidelines for the selection and
utilization of the resources are to be put into consideration. All these and more are
presented in this unit.

7.1 FACTORS FOR SELECTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN SOCIAL

STUDIES

The utilization of instructional material is essential in any instructional interaction meant

to produce effective learning. There should be no excuse or reason whatsoever for not
making use of instructional media by teachers.

However, it is important at this point to distinguish between two broad categories of

instructional materials, both of which require different types of decision from the teacher
or instructor. These broad categories are:

1. Optional or enrichment Materials

These can be selected by a teacher as a matter of personal conviction – provided there is

a sufficient time and finance.

2. Necessary or Obligatory Materials

These are the instructional media that should be used by teachers so as to help them
accomplish the stated instructional objectives of the task. Time and finance and other
factors ought to be made available for them.

However, the following criteria should be considered when selecting necessary or

obligatory instructional material for the Social Studies teaching.

(1) Task Factor: The objectives to be accomplished at the end of the lesson must be
put into consideration. Different objectives will require different instructional materials.
The following generations can be made according to (Davies) (1977):

(i) Cognitive Objectives can be realized by all instructional materials.

 30

(ii) Affective Objectives are best realized by audio aids: pictures, films and television:
simulators and language laboratories.

(iii) Psychomotor objectives are best realized by audio aids, large model of reality,
simulators, language laboratories, field excursions and visits.

(2) Topic/Subject Matter: It is also mandatory to consider the topic/subject matter to

be taught. It will be wrong to assume that just any medium can be used to teach all
topics. The nature of the topic will determine the choice of instructional material(s) to be
selected. Such factors like familiarity to the topics, concreteness or abstractedness, and
scope are to serve as guide to instructional media selection.

(3) Learner’s Factor:

(a) Group Size and Location: these are certain media that are best suited for large
audience while there are those for small audience or even individuals. The teacher is
expected to consider such factors that will improve visibility, clarity, noise, classroom
environment from the part of the learners when making a choice of instructional media for
classroom use.

(b) Intellectual abilities: Instructional materials to be selected should be borne out of

consideration for the seemingly different academic ability of the learners in the class. A
choice of complex instructional media that would benefit only the high academic ability
learners in the class is to be considered a wrong choice. Other related factors such as
learners’ interests and preferences in learning styles need to be put into consideration
when selecting instructional materials.

(4) Economic Factor: Sometime, the cost of instructional media considered to be

appropriate may serve as a hindrance to the teacher. In other words, if the school
management cannot afford to procure the media, it is of no use for the teacher to
dissipate his energy pursuing what he cannot afford. In this circumstance, the best the
teacher can do is to resort to local improvisation of such a medium/media. It is important
to stress that materials to be selected would not be too expensive, time consuming to
make and not too difficult to use.

(5) Technical Factor: Here, selecting criteria would include such variables like, quality
 31

or production, ease of use, compatibility that is whether it is handy. Flexibility of use – can
it be used in various ways? And for durability, can it be used for long?

(6) Availability: Any instructional material that is to be used should be within the reach
of the teacher. It is of no use selecting materials that are not available. However, efforts
should be made to search for such materials most especially if they are locally
manufactured. Improvisation of such material(s) could also be embarked upon. If
materials are purchased, the accompanied manuals which explain their use should be
readable and understandable.

7.2 EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

Selection of appropriate materials does not necessarily mean effective utilization of the
materials so selected. For proper integration of media into teaching-learning process, the
following factors should be considered:

1. Prepare and make available all needed instructional materials for presentation or
giving lesson.

2. Create a readiness for learning by introducing the lesson content; its

purpose/objectives, what the learners should expect and what their reactions and
participation would be.

3. Match each step of the lesson presentation with appropriate instructional material(s).

This should be explicitly integrated in the prepared lesson note for the lesson and strictly
followed during delivery.

4. Organize the classroom to suit the usage of the materials in a manner that would not
waste time and create unnecessary diversion of pupils attention.

5. Present the materials in the best form to achieve the purpose for which they are
prepared, selected and used. Decision must be taken as to whether the material(s)
has/have to be distributed to individual learner group usage/or centralized usage.

6. Make inquiries into what the learners have made out of the usage of the material(s) by
asking probing and prompting questions, and by moving about the room to see that
learners are using the resources properly.
 32

7. Determine to make the best use of the material by making use of it at the introduction,
presentation and evaluation stages of the lesson.

8. Make a follow-up after the lesson by encouraging the learners to interact with the
material use during the teaching-learning process. They could be asked to draw, label,
explain, infer, and form their own notes making use of the materials.

7.3 CRITERIA FOR SELECTING THE USE OF INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS IN

SOCIAL STUDIES

1. It should be directly relevant to the Social Studies content being taught or leant.

2. It should be presented in a way that captives or arouses the interest of the learners.

3. The instructional materials should be appropriate to the age and ability of the learners
and boldly and legibly written.

4. The teacher should avoid unnecessary duplication in the use of instructional materials
and mindful of the time of presentation.

5. It should be so simple that learners too can manipulate easily after a brief induction.

6. The learning materials should be such that will not in the manner of production and
utilization distract the attention of the learners from learning during the lesson.

7. Where a teacher has to select among alternatives, the cheapest, most readily available
and more relevant materials for utilization of the Social Studies teaching should be
selected.

8. When audio aid is used, it should be clearly audible to the learners.

9. All the pupils should be given equal chance to see, hear, feel, taste or smell the aid.

10. The use of the instructional materials should not be allowed to waste the time of the
learners especially the materials that have to go round the class.

UNIT EIGHT: EVALUATION OF SOCIAL STUDIES PROGRAMME

8.0 INTRODUCTION
 33

In the past,(i.e traditionally), evaluation was used to measure learners’ achievement at

the end of their exposure to a course of instruction.

Present day evaluation is used to assess every component of a learning situation

including:
 Details about the learner
 Teacher and the resources for teaching.

In this study unit, you will learn about the meaning and types of evaluation, justification
for evaluation and the process of evaluation.

8.1 Definition of Evaluation

Se, Mveral experts have provided definitions of evaluation. According to Gay (1979),
evaluation is a “systematic process of collecting and analyzing data for the purpose of
determining whether and to what extent objectives are being achieved or to make
decisions”. A similar definition is provided by Cronbach (1963) who defined evaluation as
“the collection and use of information to make decisions about an educational
programme.” He identified three types of decisions for which evaluation can be used.
These are:

1. For course improvement (i.e. deciding what instructional material and methods are
satisfactory and where change is needed)

2. For making decisions about individuals (i.e. identifying the needs of the pupil for
sake of planning instruction judging pupil merit for the purpose of selection and grouping,
acquainting the pupil with his own progress and deficiencies)

3. For administrative regulations (i.e. judging how good the school system is, how
good individual teachers are etc). Straton (1985) defines evaluation as “the process of
delineating, obtaining and providing information about an educational programme which
is to be used in describing, understanding and making decisions.” In the views of Obe
(1988), evaluation is a continuous process which underlines all good activities, including
teaching and learning”. He explains further, “the teacher has set the instructional
objectives and taught accordingly, will like to know the extent to which these objectives
have been attained or how much the students have learnt. The teacher, therefore, has to
evaluate preferably through measurement based on testing”. From the various
 34

definitions, we can conclude that evaluation is an assessment of one or more phases of

the curriculum process. It involves a process of collecting and using information to make
decisions and can be conducted before, during and after instruction.

8.2 Purposes of Evaluation

Teaching or learning without a purpose is useless. The goal of every Social Studies
teacher should include imparting knowledge and skills, as well as influencing
attitudes and behavior. There must be a purpose or objective(s) for teaching or
learning. How then do we know whether the objectives have been achieved? This can
only be determined when the processes and outcomes of instruction have been
objectively evaluated.

Evaluation therefore is important for the following reasons:

1. To assess the effectiveness of instruction and measure the extent to which

instructional objectives were achieved.

2. To provide relevant information/feedback to the teacher about the instruction.

3. To provide information about what would guide decisions regarding learner’s progress,
how to improve teaching/learning, curriculum changes and instructional objectives.

8.3 Types of Evaluation

We shall examine three major types of evaluation. These are diagnostic, formative and
summative evaluations.

1. Diagnostic Evaluation: This takes place prior to beginning a unit of instruction,

usually at the beginning of a school year. This pre-instructional evaluation is used to
obtain information about learners’ entry behavior such as the kinds of attitude,
knowledge, understanding, or skills that they already have and how it can influence efforts
by teachers and learners to achieve the desired objectives. For example, if learners
already have a lot of information about a lesson, it would amount to a waste of time for
the teacher to begin to teach it all over again, when what he/she should be doing is
reinforcing what they know and adding on to that information. However, learners often
know far less than teachers assume they know. Therefore, diagnostic evaluation results
may recommend modifying original objectives, or expanding the content of lesson etc.
 35

2. Formative evaluation: This type of evaluation is an ongoing classroom process that

informs teachers and learners about learners' progress in achieving learning objectives.
The purposes of formative evaluation include enabling teachers assess learners’ progress
towards attainment of objectives, and providing feedback to teachers and learners about
learners’ successes and specific challenges in understanding the lesson.

3. Summative evaluation: This usually occurs at the end of a unit of study in order to
determine how much and how well learners have learned and to what extent desired
objectives have been attained. Its primary purpose is to establish what has been learned
over a period of time, to review learners’ progress, and to report on progress in relation to
curriculum objectives.

8.4 Guiding Principles of Learner Evaluation

In the book, Student Evaluation: A Teacher Handbook by Regina, SK. (1991), five general
guiding principles are stated to assist teachers in planning for learner/student evaluation.

These principles are:

a. Evaluation should be regarded as an essential part of the teaching-learning process;

therefore it should be a planned, continuous activity, which is closely linked to both
curriculum and instruction.

b. Evaluation should be guided by the intended learning outcomes of the curriculum and a
variety of assessment strategies.

c. Evaluation plans should be communicated in advance. Learners should have

opportunities for input to the evaluation process.

d. Evaluation should be fair and equitable. It should be sensitive to family, classroom,

school, and community situations; it should be free of bias. Learners should be given
opportunities to demonstrate the extent of their knowledge, understandings, skills, and
attitudes.

e. Evaluation should help learners. It should provide positive feedback and encourage
learners to participate actively in their own learning.

8.4 The Evaluation Process

 36

Evaluation is a technical aspect of instruction that consists of a process, which occurs in a

cyclic manner. The beginning point is the formulation of objectives. It is almost impossible
to determine whether an instruction was successful, if there were no objectives that were
set before the commencement of the instruction. These are specific statements of
accomplishments as a result of the teaching/learning experience. Also, at this phase,
certain decisions have to be made regarding what is to be evaluated, the type of
evaluation to be used, the criteria against which learning outcomes will be judged and the
most appropriate assessment techniques to collect data. This explains why some experts
call this stage the preparation phase. The second phase is the observation of evidence to
show that these accomplishments (or objectives) were achieved.

For example, the objectives may include changes in knowledge, attitude, behaviour and
skills acquisition. The evaluator needs to see evidence that the changes did occur after
the instruction. This stage involves information gathering. The third phase is the
recording stage. This is a collation and reporting of the observations and notable changes
that occurred. The fourth phase involves an analysis of the evaluation report to finally
judge whether learning had taken place satisfactorily or otherwise. At this stage, the
teacher/evaluator interprets the assessment information and makes judgment about
learner information progress.

The last phase requires taking action based on the analysis of the evaluation report. For
instance, the teacher may need to change his/her teaching methods in order to improve
learners’ comprehensiveness and subsequent performance. The figure below illustrates
further the evaluation process.

8.5 TYPES OF EVALUATION INSTRUMENTS

There are several types of instrument that can be used for measuring learner progress,
learning outcomes and instruction. Some of such instrument would be discussed below.

1 Multiple-Choice Questions

The multiple-choice test item is one of the effective ways of measuring different
intellectual processes of teaching Social Studies. It can be used to measure knowledge of
facts and high-level mental processes such as understanding and judgment. It is the test
item most commonly used in standardized tests.
 37

A multiple-choice item is made up of two parts: a stem and several choices.

The stem may be a complete or incomplete statement or a question. The choices

usually include one correct answer and three or four incorrect answers, referred to as
distractors.

Although the multiple tests are a very effective instrument, many teachers find it difficult
to develop good items or question statements and distractors. Many times, teachers write
questions that require only recognition or recall of information, rather than application of
knowledge. This is one of the major disadvantages of the multiple-choice question.

In writing the “stem” of the item you should note the following statement:

(a) The statement or question should be simple and easy to understand. Learners should
be able to understand. Learners should be able to understand the question without
reading it several times

(b) State brief questions and avoid undue complexities

(c) State the question in positive form. For example avoid saying, “which of these is not
an objective of social studies”. This can be confusing to learners. Rather, you may say,
“which of these is an objective of Social Studies”

(d) Do not use similar or related words in both the stem and the correct answer

(e) All questions in a multiple-choice test must stand on their own

Furthermore, when writing multiple-choice items, the following should be observed:

(a) Do not place the correct answer too frequently in a particular position. For example
some teachers use C as the correct option 80% of the time and it becomes easy for
learners to recognize the pattern.

(b) Do not write items that are obviously wrong or totally unrelated to the subject

(c) The option “none of the above” should be avoided. It can only be used when there are
absolutely correct answers.

(d) Do not provide clues to the answers in other question items

(e) Avoid using words or terminology that is completely unfamiliar to the learner.
 38

2. Completion Questions

These are incomplete statements whose correct answers have to be provided by the
learners. In writing completion questions, learners must be presented with adequate
information that will enable them answer the question. In doing this however, one must be
careful not to give the answer away. There should be a blank space at the end of each
item and the required answers should be short.

3. Short-Answer Questions

There are several ways of writing the short-answer questions. They can take the form of
definitions, short essays, descriptions or a mixture of the three. The most important
element of this test type is the provision of clear and specific instructions that would guide
learners to provide the required answers.

4. Essay Questions

Essay questions are ideal forms of testing of learners’ ability to express their thoughts and
ideas in writing. Therefore, essay questions can be used for testing critical thinking a nd
problem-solving skills. The challenge for teachers is how to mark and grade the test
objectively. It is also important to provide enough time for learners to answer the
questions. They should be given the limit to the length of the answer to be given for each
question. Also, all learners must be made to answer the same questions rather than
asking them to select 3 questions out of 6.

This is because it will be difficult to come up with a common basis for comparison. When
all learners are subject to the same number of question items, it will be easy to determine
the comparative performance of learn\ers, all things being equal.

8.6. Evaluation of Social Studies Programme

The evaluation of learners’ progress discussed above is one key element in evaluating the
total programme. However, equally important is the objective–based approach. This way,
the programme is judged on whether the program objectives were reached. Although this
approach has its own challenges and limitations, it is recommended as the basic approach
in initial attempts to evaluate social studies programme. The syllabus and lesson plan are
useful instruments to evaluate in this approach. In addition, in Social Studies, the teacher
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evaluates the three domains namely, cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. That is, the
learners’ achievement, attitude and values and the skills as well as the learning materials
and even the teacher himself/herself.

REFERENCES

Adewumi, J.B. (1988), Introduction of Education Research Techniques, Ilorin: Gbenle Press
Ltd.

Agun I. Imogie I. (eds.) (1988) Fundamentals of Educational Technology Y-Books, Ibadan.

Du Bey D. L. and J. L. Barth (1980) Social Studies, The Inquiry Method Approach,
Thomas Nelson and sons Ltd., Nairobi, Kenya.

Koleoso, A. (1999), Research Methods and Statistics. Ibadan: Ben Quality Prints.

Ladipo, S. O. and Ogunsanya M. (ed.) (2000) Application and Practice in Education

Andrian Publications Series, Oyo

Makinde M.A. (1979); Integrated Social Studies, A Handbook of Social Studies for
Teachers; Ibadan O.U.P.

Odanye, O. (2003) The Basic Concepts of Social Studies for Junior Secondary Schools
Books 1-3 Holad Publishers, Ibadan.

Ogunsanya M. (ed.) (1999) Basic Processes in Education Andrian Publication Series,

Oyo.

Ogunsanya M. (1982): Introduction to Methodologies of Social Studies. Department of

Educational Management, University of Ibadan.

Olatunji M. O. (2003). Evaluation Process in Education Longman Nigeria Ltd., Ibadan.

Olu-Aderounmu and Adegboye A. (1990): Social Studies, Nigeria Certificate in Education

Series, Ondo State College of Education, Ikere Ekiti.

ASSIGNMENT
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Choose any social studies topic and prepare a competence-based lesson plan.
The lesson plan should be detailed enough.