Module 6: Using and Evaluating Instructional Materials

Prerequisite Skills:
Instructor:
Level:
Allotted Time:

Aurelio F. Polonio
Second Year College

Overview
After being acquainted with. different instructional materials through Edgar Dale's Cone of Experience, let
us, learn how to select and use these materials in order to achieve our desired learning objectives
Objectives

1. Identify guidelines that should be considered in the selection instructional materials

2. Classify instructional material that will be effectively utilized
Pretest

a. Read and study the comic strip below. What do the conversations between Charlie Brown and
Linus imply about field trips?

Analysis:
Guide Questions for Discussion

From the conversation, Linus said: "It was real field, and we saw it... we saw that field.
What senses were at work in the field trip?

Did the field trip accomplish something specific for Linus? Why do you say so?

Learning Focus
One of the instructional materials used to attain instructional objectives is field trip.
It is not enough to bring the class out for a field trip and make them observe anything or everything or use other
instructional materials for no preparation and clear reason at all. Perhaps this is what happened to the field trip joined

in by Linus, that's why he seems not able to cite something specific that he learned from the field trip.
For an effective use/of instructional materials such as field trip, there are guidelines that ought to be observed,
first of all, in their selection and second, in their use.
Selections of Materials
The following guide questions express standards to consider in the selection of instructional materials:

Do the materials give a true picture of the ideas they present? To avoid misconceptions, it is always good to
ask when the material was produced.

Do the materials contribute meaningful content to the topic under study? Does the material help you
achieve the instructional objective?

Is the material appropriate for the age, intelligence, and experience of the learners?

Is the physical condition of the material satisfactory? An example, is a photograph properly mounted?

Is there a
effective use?
will be used to
increased with a

teacher's guide to provide a briefing for

The chance that the instructional material
the maximum and to the optimum is
teacher's guide.

Can
the
students better
faculties? With
important that
powers.

materials in question help to make

thinkers and develop their critical
exposure to mass media, it is highly
we maintain and strengthen our rational

Is the material
worth the time, expense and effort involved? A field trip, for instance, requires much time, effort, and money. Is it more effective than any other
less expensive and less demanding instructional material that can take its place? Or is there a better
substitute?

The Proper Use of Materials

You may have selected your instructional material well. This is no guarantee that the instructional material
will be effectively utilized. It is one thing to select a good instructional material, it is another thing to use it well.
To ensure effective use of instructional material, Hayden Smith and Thomas Nagel, (1972) book authors on
Instructional Media, advise us to abide by the acronym PPPF.

Prepare yourself. You know your lesson objective and what you expect from the class after the
session and why you have selected such particular instructional material. You have a plan on how
you will proceed, what questions to ask, how you will evaluate learning and how you will tie loose
ends before the bell rings.
Prepare your students. Set class expectations and learning goals. It is sound practice to give them guide
questions for them to be able to answer during the discussion. Motivate them and keep them interested and
engaged.
Present the material under the best possible conditions. Many teachers are guilty of the R.O.G.
Syndrome. This is means "running out of gas" which usually results from poor planning. (Smith, 1972)
Using media and materials, especially if they are mechanical in nature, often requires rehearsal and a
carefully planned performance. Wise are you if you try the materials ahead of your class use to avoid a
fiasco.
Follow up. Remember that you use instructional material to achieve an objective, neither to kill time nor to
give yourself a break, neither to merely entertain the class. You use the instructional for the attainment of a
lesson objective. Your use of the instructional material is not the end in itself. It is a means to an end, the
attainment of a learning objective. So, there is need to follow up to find out if objective was attained or not.

Summing up:
To ensure that instructional materials serve their purpose in instruction, we need to observe some guidelines in
their selection and use. The materials that we select must:
give a true picture of the ideas they present
contribute to the attainment of the learning objective
be appropriate to the age, intelligence and experience of the learners
be in good and satisfactory condition
provide for a teacher's guide
help develop the critical and creative thinking powers of students
be worth the time, expense and effort involved
For optimum use of the instructional material, it is necessary that the teacher prepares:

herself
her students
the instructional material and does follow up.

Learning Activities
Activity1: Observation
Observe your instructor/professor as he teaches the class.
Find out which guidelines in the selection of instructional materials did he observe? not observe?
In his use- of instructional material, write down evidence of:
Preparation of Self : ____________________________________________________________________________
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Preparation of Students : ________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________________.
Preparation of Material : _______________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________.
Follow Up : _______________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________.
Activity 2: Accomplish this log
What I learned? (Deposit)

How I apply what I learned (Dividend)

Posttest
1. You learned Robert Gagne's nine (9) instructional events in the subject Facilitating Learning.

These are: 1) gain attention, 2) inform learner of objectives, 3) stimulate recall of prior learning, 4)
present stimulus material, 5) provide learner guidance, 6) elicit performance, 7) provide feedback,
8) assess performance and 9) enhance retention transfer. Connect Gagne's nine instructional
events to the PPPF acronym in this Lesson in relation to use of instructional materials. Are Smith
and Gagne saying similar things?