CHAPTER I

u INTRODUCTION

o NEED AND SlGNIFlCANCE O F T H E S7'11LlY

J STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

n OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OFKEY TERMS

HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY

L] OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

u METHODOLOGY IN BRIEF

-1 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

u ORGANIZATION OF THE RE=SEARC:li REPORT

CHAPTEK I

INTRODlICTION

1. I INTROI)I!CTIDN

1,ducatioo. by its v e y nature. intluences and 9ets tnfluenced hy the

whole development process. The dynamics of educatiori artd its role in social

transthrmation i~nd national developn~ent rnakcs i t essential that the content and

processes o f education are continuously renewed in order to keep thetn in tunc with

the chanying needs. aspirations at~d demands of the society

- 1 he r~lajor purpose of teaching is to increase thc capacity r-)i' the

learners to lear.11 and teach them hou to learn Consequently. the instructional

strateyes becor~lt. discovery oriented and leal-ner centred The rc~lc uf the teacher

occupies a tl,ansltlun ti-llin the transmitter ro the facilitator of knowledge Instead of

dispensing knoiiledge and information directly. rtle respo~isihility of the teacher in

the chanyins sit~ration is to teach the students how ro obtain. prncess. encode. r-etaln

and rransfer kno\vledye and inforrnation more etT'ectively

Tl~t. extraordinary expansion of knowledge and hun~an capacity ro

ass~milate i r will become a major issue befbre educationists In the context o f t h ~ s

tremendous expansion and explosion of information and in the ~rlodes nt'acquiriny 11

with the widespread application and popularit!, of itlformarior~ technology and

telecomnulnicatio~~s. Piaget's vision on future education needs s p r c ~ a l considel-atlo11

Hc asserts that - if we want to form individuals capable of Lnventlve thought and

of helping societv tomorrow to achieve progress. the11 it is clear that an education

which is an actiw discovery of reality is superior to one that consists in merely

providing the yclung with readymade wills to will with and readymade truths to

know with" (Piaget, 1971). We move into the study of teaching as an inquiry by

individuals, faculties and school districts. Perhaps the most important finding is that

the purpose of teaching i s to increase the capacity uf the learners to learn and teach

them hou tu learn (Joyce, and Weit. 1 997).

7'he ideal teaching-learning situation demands to plact: the learner in

the role of an or~ginai investigator. The spirit of inquiry needs ro be stressed. r igh~

from the beginn~ng of their study. lnstead of making the learner a passive recipient

of second hand information, their active thinking and reasoning power. critical

thinking ability, l~roblem solving skills and discovery learning should be stimulated

Fundamentally. education means the drawing uul of the best i l l the

child and it lead> to the all-round development of the child-the body, rrlit~d and spirit

(Gandhi. 195 1 ) For the all-round developnlent of the child. the cosnitive, affective

and psychornotvr behaviours must be developed in a balanced and integrated fashion

(Bloom. 1964) Following a fixed way of teaching fails to achieve the all-I-our~d

development of the child in cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains for which

teachiny i s desigrled and performed. Pupils have multi-dimensional personalities

having different learning styles. The common implication of both these facts is that

the teachers should use different strategies of teaching to match the objectives of

teaching and the different learning styles and personalities of students (Passi. Singh

and Sansanwal, 1986)

! 'ompetence in teaching steins from the capaci~v to reach out t o

multi-faceted chitdren and to create a rich and multi-dimensional environnlent fur

then1 Models of teaching emerge out of the search to find out a varietv nf

approaches of- itrategies of teaching to match the learning env~runrnenl and Iearniny

styles of pupils (Ellis and Harper 1975)

Phe core of teaching process is the arrangement 01' environments

ivithiil wl~icll rhe students can interact and study hoit. to learn (Dewey. I O l O ) There

are Inany po~iurful models of teaching desisned to briny about particular kitlds ot'

leartliny and ti1 help students become more efkctive learners Models ot' teaching

are really modrls of learning (Joyce and Weil, 1997).

Moreover a model of teaching is a plan oi- pattern that cat) be used to

desssn face tu face teacliing In the classroo~ns to shape instructional n)atel.~als, l r )

shapt: curricul;i and tu guide instruction in the classroom and other settings (Weil

and Joyce. 1st; 3 )

Again. rnodels are prescriptiix teaching strategies designed to

accomplish pal-ticular instructional goals (Eggen. I'aul. et al 1 070)

More details of the models of teaching is provided in chapter 1w0 of'

this report

One of the i ~ ~ o s t imput-tant dimensions of educational research is the

attempt to learn hou much difference it makes to personal. social and academic

growlh if one uses one strategy rather than another for a part~cular purpose The

present stud! is concerned with the Models of Teaching The study prlmarilv

focuses upon the i~nnlediate and delayed Impact o ~ l the achievement in Geograph!

of rhe IX'" standard students of the secondan. scliools of Kerala. The issue i 4 a s

selected keeping in mind the following

I The pr-csent status of Geography as a suhLiect of learning rn the schoul

curriculum

2. Nature of Geography as a social science

.; Kelevarice of modern methods in the teaching uf Geography

1.1.1 The Present Status uf Geography ia the School Curriculum

In the post independence period in India. the subjects u!' social

sciences such ;is History. Geography. Civics a ~ ~ d Ecorlornics h a w been tauyht irl

ditferent form\ at school level. In some states they are being taught as disciplirlt.

oriented and i r i some other states they are being labdled as soc~al studies in the for111

uf integrat~u~i In Kerala the curriculum and syllabus of the primar\. and secn~ldal?

le\;els of educiirion were modified i n accordance with the gu~delines laid do14n in the

nc\\ Educatio~i Policy (NPE- 1986). The syllabus followed in the Stale of Kerala to a

great extent I, dityerutlt t iom that of the svllabus of' Central Board of Secondaiv

Education ( C - l3SE) According to thc syllabus uf Kerala State Llepal-trneilt of'

Education. up to standard VllI the syllabus of social studies is organised in the form

of inteyratiotl and in standard 1X and X social studies svllabus is organised as

discipline orlelited. There is not much research support or erlipirical e\,idence in the

sclecrior~ of integration approach and discipline-oriented approach They are

governed by !he conser~sual lore of experts (NC'ERT. Fitih Survey of Ed~~cational

Kesearch. IO(17)

.-\ccurding to the Trend Repoit u f the Fifth Survey of Ed i~ca t ion~~l

Research, the number of researches conducted in the field o f Social Scieilce at the

school level tclnained at a very low level priority fo r the educational rcsearch

community in th is count?. The picture becomes clearer by a comparison of the

numbel- uf studies ir~cluded in the Fifth Survey uf Educational Research jll~loilgst

the ~ ,ar ious cu~ricular areas such as in Mathelllatics Education 47 studies werc

conducted. in asience education 61 studies were reported and in language education

alone 90 studlt..; were come for review. But in the case of social sciences orlly nine

studies were r-cpor-ted. The real crisis facing research in social scierice education

seenls to be t h C cr is~s uf research leadership (Fifth S u n e y of Educational Kesearch.

1 Furthc-I-. out of' the nine studies reported in the field of Soula1 Science

Education. s e w n of them have been contributed by scholars from uverseas who halt.

studied problenls In their own settings.

In addit~on ro the crisis of research and research leadership there has

been a widespread dissatisfaction in the teact7in~-learuitly process carried out in the

classroo~n sett~rlgs, especially in the teachiny of Geographv Firstly. most of the

CUI-ricular rei,i>ion attempted so far has been of an ad-hoc char-acter 11ot se!lerally

based un adcquate expertise and not follo~ved by such necessat-y supporting

111easu1-es

In Kerala at the school level. Geography is studied as a n an subject

iind taught b! teachers having graduation in any social science subject But at the

level uf university, Geography is treated as a science subject with separate

1aborator-y facllit~es. practicals and experiments As a corvllan of' this dual

approach in ttlr teachiny and learning of Geography, facilities for higher education

are very scatlty Very few ccliieges in Kerala 0 t h Geography as an optional sub-iecr

ar the graduate and post-graduate levels The limited fhcilities for sti~dying

Geography at ~ l l e level of college compel the teachers having yraduation in other

social science subjects to manage the teaching of Cieoyraphv at hiyh school classes

.As such i t i s believed that teachers are not confident enough to handle the subject

efficiently and cfkctively

burther, the riyid nature of curl-iculum and method of evaluation put

hazards in the ivav of invention and innovation in the teaching-learr~in~ process It1

schools and colleges teaching and learning to a great extent i s geared to the sole

purpose of securing high marks or acquiring a degree %lemur\, is at a premiirrtl and

itltelligence at 'I discount. The system is designed to iron out ~ndepende~ice of

tnind.. original~ty and native curiosity There is no provision for futurological

uutloclk in the classrooni teachings. The ir~structional procedure followed in the

classruu~n i s ulai~ily teacher centred, text book based and content or~ented hlajority

of the village \chools in Kerala lack worthwhile support system and instructional

facilities especiillly in the teachiny of Geography These arc a few off the criticisms

levelled against the teaching of Geography in high sct~ool classes

I . 1.2 Nature o f Geography as a Social Science

I'hc term 'Geoyraphy' i s derived f rom the cotnbinatinn of two Greek

words -Gee' and *Graphos'. 'Geo' means earth and -Graphos' means writing. study

and descriptiorl Geography of today is not itierely a description or interpretation of

the reyior~s of the earth. I t is an inquiry of causes. an attempt to find c ~ t the 'hou '

and 'why' of all the Geographical facts and factors which go to intluence the life uf

man on eatth.

Lt is in the works of Greek philosophers that we come across the use

of the term 'Geography' tbr the tirst time The growth of Geography as an acadelnic

discipline has tu depend on scientific and technological advancemerlts and

development of r.anographic techniques and scientific appraisal ot' data.

beography is a broad discipline characterised hv four concerlls of

nearly equal importance. The first one is the distribution over the surface of the

earth. of pllenulne~~a and processes which contribute to the iin~clue charactel- of

places (Tarbuck and Frederick. 1 993). The second is rhe exarn~r~ation ot' phenurnena

and processes i n the exact coiltext in whicli they occur (Strahler. I 9gC1) The third is

the way that p l ~ e r ~ o n ~ e n a and processes are the causes and cunsequence of hurnari

decision makin3 ( Artshorne. 1 994). 'The hurt h one is I he transn~issivn of

information and Ideas through the lanyuaye of inaps (CotTey 108 1 )

(~eoyraphy is that discipline which seeks to describe and interpret the

variable character from place to place of the earth as the world of' tnan

(Hartshorne 1904)

Cieoyraphy is not only an academic disciplirie but also a point of

vien, a line ot' thought, and an interpretation which helps une to understand the

world

I-he basic function of Geography is the analysis and svnthesis of' tlie

actual integration of phenomena in sections of space. Geography is the organized

knowledge of the eanh as the world of man It deals with organic and inorganic

phenomena not lilr their own sake but as the factors that help us to understand the

earth as the place where people live, work, meet and mingle, transforming its surface

into their habitat (Broek and Web. 1978).

1.1.3 Sub-fields o f Geography

Cieayraphy consists of a large number of sub-fields and tields of

specialization. The content of geoyraphv i s organised in the form physical

geography and human geography Physical Geography is concerned with i'ariuus

aspects of our ~~arural or bio-physicat environment Huit~an Geographv is concer-ned

with the studv ot'rnan, how he lives and hob- he makes a living

The sub-fields of physical Geography are Geomorphoiogy (rocks and

relief' features). Climatology (Weather and climate). Oceanography (waves, currents.

and tides), Hydrology (sources of water and ~ t s role in susta~ning differer~t life

forms) and Bio-Geography-the study of plants and animals

I-he main branches of human geography are ( a ) econo1111c

geography. (b , social geography and ( c ) cultural seographl; The field of

specializatiun 1 1 ) economic yeography of tnanufacturinp and geography of transport

and communications. The sub-fields of social geography are rural and urban

settlements. medical yeography, and political geography.

t'artography is also considered as a branch of' Geosraphy The othet-

fields of spec~;~lisation are historical geography. urban geography and land use

Geo-physics is devoted to the study of physical processes relating ro the strucrure of

the earth. Geography deals with the composition. structure and history of the earth

So habitat economy and societv together make up the contenr of Geography

I:or making description accurate and errplanat~c>rl..; exact the

eeopaphers 1ial.e to draw relevant material fro111 the correspntlding natural sciences -

tike geology. pedoloyy. ~neteorology. botany and zooloyy 7'he borrowins is not Just

repeatiny or plivsicaily lifting the material froin these sciences hut transforming it to

suit the nature r ) f Cieogaphy.

I'he founders of modern Geugraphv, .Alexander \:on Hulnboldt and

Karl Ritter. advocated two approaches in the study of Geugritpht l'hc.y at-c

systetnatic stud\. and I-egional study of Geoyraph!. AnaIysis of' spatial distributiutl IS

a n essential k i ~ t ~ r e of Geographical study Distribution of phenomena o w l the

entir-e world is the therne of systematic Geography and t h e study of ii lirrlited area or

phenomena within some limited part of the earth's surface i s called the I-cyional

study of Geogrilphy

Ttle three basic techniques adopted in the s t ~ i d y of Geoyrapliy arc

literacy. nutneracy and graphicacy (Minshull. 0 7 ) Thus Cieu~rapll! has ii wide

scope unparalleled by any other subject (Varnm. IOCl 1 )

Fig. 1 .1

Fields and Su b-fields of Specialisatiori

(Geography)

METHODS TECHNIQUES VIEW POINI-S

;I Canogntphy i l l ~ ~ I S ~ O ~ I L ~ I I

Special or h ) Acrii~l Gcogr;~pl~y Regional Ptlolography h l L1rba11 Geogrupliy Guogr;~pl\ y

C ) i , ;~ t id -U~c ' + (N3111rcj ( M:ul) PII! S I C ; I ~ Cicogri~ptl! HIHWJII ticugrilpll!

Aa1111:lls) L ~ , . , ~ ~ ~ FOI- I + I \ I I I ~ )

Guo111or- CllrlI,llo- Occano- Grilph! & pllology 'ON' Bio- ~ . ~ u l t ~ ~ r : ~ l

geography

C 3) 1.~11lg~l~lg~~5 b ) Rcligiorl C I Tools K: 5h1ll3 d) Sociill or ~ I I I I ~ ; I I ~ ~ I I

UIU

t. 1.4 Relevarlce of Modern Methods in the Teaching of I;eoprapl~y

l.oday the trend in teaching is fast nluving fr-urn the 'product' 10

-process' approach. The shift in emphasis t i o ~ t ~ the content areas of' yeographical

knowledge to the processes involved in acquiring itlformation. has w ~ d e itnplication

for all aspects of educational practice. O l e of' the most interesting and important

debates in the tield of instruction today revol\.es around the relat~vt. efficiency of

varving method\ of reaching.

I-lie cvr~ventional method of tcachirig tias paved the tvay for passi\,t.

knowledge recipients and not active particillarlts in the process of actlu~ring

information I-:ducation thinkers and planners iire tryit13 t o implement better

methods and st1 ateyes in the tield of learning and instruction

I'he central idea behind the process approach i s t o l i e l l ~ the students

think about thc nature of learning and to increase the capacity I'or learnills

Knowledge of the learning process combined with analysis of the tasks for learning

in accordance \+,ith i~>stmctionaI theory tinds a direct applicat~on to the design of

instruction The ~nfc~rmation processing theories of learnins can be used to guide

learning activities and ways of enhancing the innate d r k e uf h u m a n beings to rnake

sense of the world. by acquiring and oryanising data, senslng problelns and

generating solutions to them

IKllc child's ability to deal i v i t t ~ the broad concepts 11f spact.. fililt ' .

inattes and caucniitv depends upon the type of leal-ning and method i)f insir~~ctioil

The Infot-mation Processiny Model of learning and memow 1s of gi-cat signiticarlce

for the planrlillg arid design of instruction in the teaching of Cieography

The external events called instructional strategy may suppon internal

processes by evaluating the nlental set-up that afects artention and selective

perception. Naturally learners can influence the internal process by means of the~r-

own coynitive strategies.

There is a life after schooling and that learning to think or learning to

Iearn is what school is all about. Process of learning and content are comple~nentary

rather than mutually exclusive in model approach (Joyce and Weil, 1992).

The proponents of the process approach, however, hold that it

enhances the thinking process and helps students to internalise information.

assimilate and accommodate the key facts, central ideas and provide training to

become more eficient in developing facts, concepts, principles. seneralisations and

inferences.

The processes used by students to generate different content forms

are mainly observation and inference. The primary process skills involved in the

information processing family are observation and inference. Facts are the end

products of observation, while concepts and generaiisations are arrived at by

. inferential process. Models of teaching are basically, approaches to meta-cognition,

that is, learning to learn. Each model of the lnforrnation Processing Family can be

characterised by the emphasis placed on the kind and sequenciny of the process

skills along with mastery of the content.

Problem solving skill is basic to the process approach. In inquiry

train~ng model the basic steps of problem solving method suggested by John Dewey

positively leads to highlighting of the immense potentiality of the process approach

in school curricula. Suchman (1960) provides an analysis of the characteristic steps

of problem solv~ng through process oriented inquiry model

I3asically, the information processing models are designed to in~proi ' t .

the student's itbitity to handle information. This increased ability is acquired

through the pro~essing of information. The Information Processing Modeis refer to

the information processing capability of the students and the way they can improve

their ability to Illaster information (Weil, and Joyce. 1985)

l h e Inquiry Training hlodels belonging tc, the In fo r r~~a t~on

Processing fanllly are mainly concerned with the abilitv of the learner to solve

probtenls Tht. chief learning outcomes uf inquiry training are the processes

involved - obscrv~ng, collecring and oryanising data, identifi,ing and conrrotliny

variables, makiny and testing hypotheses, formulating explanations and drawing

inferences. The ~nquiry traininy model splendidly integrates these several process

skills into a sing1 e meaningful unit of experience.

1- ven though the emphasis of Inquiry training Model is tnaioly in

process, it results in the learning of the content in any curricuium areas from \vhich

problems are selected Suchman developed entire curricula in Economics and

g o l o y y . Lt is also adaptable to all elementary and secondary school curriculum

areas (Joyce and Weil. 1 997).

Tcaching is a process of building communities of learners who use

their shlls to educate themselves (Joyce and Weil, 1992). I n leaching the raw

materials gathered from the environment are processed or organised into Inore

understandable tbrtn The intellectual skills or capabilities required to analvse

information are process and the processing ability makes the learner yu beyond the

process which leads to the development of n-lore abstract ;~nd useful fortns cf

knowledge Thc knowledge that results from the processing of' information depends

u p o n the type ot'process~ng which was used to form it (Eggen, Kauchak and Hardcl,.

1970) Informutian processing focuses attention on the accluisitlon uf knowledge

through analysis of data from classrooms. When usiny these mtldels students are

taugh~ process skills as well as the content. They wilt also becc~rne tnore proficient

in verbal expression as well as listening to others and rerne~nber in~ what has been

said The info]-[nation processing model promotes active and autonomuus learning

which helps students learn to construct knowledge -- learning t l o ~ ru learn

1.2 NEED AND SIGNIFICANCE OF T H E STUDY

Secondary Education has a strategic position in the whole schema of

education for several reasons First, secondary education lays the foundation of all

higher education Secondly, it is the terminal stage for many students In secoildal:

education. pupils normally reach the threshold of formal operational stage as in

Piaget's classitication regarding cognitive development. The pupits at this stage can

logically solve all types of problems, think systematically, solve complex verbal and

hypothetical problems as their cognitive structure is mentioned (Wardswon, 1988).

Further. there i s much tatk and discussion abaur academic exceilence

in teaching and learning process going on in Kerala At the prirnaq. level a tlome

grown innovat~vu educational programme was formulated with the name District

Primary Educat~c~n Programme (DPEP) with three major goals nan~el?. universal

access. retention and achievement. Considering the educat~onal background In

Kerala setting, the DPEP calts for a substaritial improvemerit in quality educatiotl.

Quality of education is ensured by giving due emphasis on three points. entn,

behaviour. inst~uctional process and exit control the efficiency of the assessment

and evaluation svstem. Among the three point scale to ensure quality improvement.

primay importance should be given to the instructional process Mere upgrading or

updating the cotltent of a course will not help the Indian students to improve their

quality. A cu~r~cu lu tn with all transactions including teaching-learning strategies

and evaluation technique is inevitable in lieu of a syllabus with a skeletal content elf'

the subject Th~s will not only help the teachers to decide what to teach and how to

teach. but also he administrators and the inspectors to keep a vigil over the progress.

There is an all round dissatisfacrion with the type ot* teachills and

learning yoing cjn in the classroom settings There i s a w ~ d e gap between theory arid

practice ?'he teacher seerns to be an omniscierlt giver of tn~th and knowledpe The

students become passive listeners in the teactling learning process. To develop

critical thinking power. reasoning ability. problem solving skill and inductive

learning, many c ) t ' the traditional educational practices must be seriously cluestioned

and new approaches based on sound theories and principles rnust be implemented.

E i ~ r a Ions time teachers have been using tixed ways of teachins

certain subjects mainly arts subjects There is not much research support or

empirical evidence or research base in social science subjects, t r i science subjects.

Mathematics, F.ducation and Language studies, research Into the use of process

skills, inquiry approach, discovery and other discipline cer~tred approaches have

been widelv explc>red and studied in detail. But little work has been conducted on

the relevance ot' model-n instructional strategies, process of probteni sol\ illg aild

discovery appruaches in Social Sciences Esplosioii of knotvledgu has ~ t ~ a d t . it

practically ditticult for the teacher to impart the ever-expanding study lr~aterial

within the conslraints of time and syllabus In order to ovel-come these impasses

students m u s ~ be trained to become original investigators and discoverers

Consequently the irlstructional strategies become discoveq orlented and learnel-

centred Here the rule of the teacher changes from the transmitter t o the facilita~u~

of knowledge

S u the investiyator felt that it i s a vital need of the tirrie t o i-nake

hurnble attempt to think pos~tively and act creatively In this direct1011 'l'here is ;I

rarige of srrar egies for instruction which deviate rhemselves from I he i ~ a l a l

couventiunal I-lassroom teaching dominated by leachcl- Jovce and Weil ( 1'172)

published a book 'Models of Teaching' which consists of tnhrtnatian Prucessing

famill;. Persor~al Farniiy, Social Famill; and Behaviour Svstems Familv The

investigator selected three models belonging to rhe Information Processing Family

for the pr-esenr studv as an instructional strategy w h ~ c h deviated from the

conventional teaching-learning approach and tested its etkctiveness using

appropriate statistical techniques. Application of' these models may help to change

the teaching tearning process of Geography I t is with t h ~ s hope that prese~ir

inijestiyation i> attempted.

1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

['he study is entitled T H E EFFECT OF IhTFORAJATIO.h:

PRIIC'ES.Si.~~r' M0I)ELS 11%' THE TEA C H I N {IF (iI'EO(;RA PH Y Ifi THE

*VEC'ONIIAR)I .YL'HOOLS O F KERALA.

1.4 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF KEY 'I'ERMS

I he operatic>nal definitions ot' kc?, tcrlns cons~tiercd In the stud\' are

presented belou

Effect: . . The r e s ~ l t or product of some etticit.111 cause OI- ageliu!. a consequence. an

oulcome (Good 107.3) I n the present stud?, t h e etiect is the uhangc that a parricular

nod el of teachillg makes in the pertbrmance of the pupils

Morld: Model I \ a symbolic system with srn~ctural relationships which leads to the

prediction of exact consequences, explicit correspondences and rnanv ~nterpretations

(Torsten and Yrville. l(104)

Inf iwr~tcl t iot t Procc.wing: I'he term refers to tlw ivays people l~andlt. st~rnuli f io~n the

environment. urganise data, senses problems. generate concepts and ~ o l u ~ i o n s tu

problems. and ernploy verbal and non-verbal synbols .

Infijrttjation Processing hfo~lels: Members of the first Iarse family n f n~odels of

teachiuy share a n orientation toward the infi~rmation pi-ocessing capability of

students and the ways they can improve theil- ability to master infor.n~at~on (Joyce K.

Weil. 198.5).

Aclriel~emenr in C;eogrtrplty: Achievement in Geographv is operat~nt~ally detirled as

the scares obrairled in the immediate and delaved posttests o w r the content material

taught ill the unit 'Water i r ~ the Atmosphere' ftjr studerits ut' standard IN

.Se'ecr)ntlrrty Scht1o1.v: All the hiyh schools having classes for \!I l I . 1X and X standards

and prepare students for Secondary School Leaviny Certiticate examirlatiori

conducted bv Kcrala State Board of Secondan; Education

Retentiun rinrl li.rm.!fer: .4chievement in Geography can he measured us1112 two

types of tests-mention tests and transfer tests

Retention fest.r Retention Tests are those tests that measure the degree to which a

student remembers and comprehends the material where the content of' the rriaterial

of the test is illore or less exactly the same as taught in the unlt ,Water I I I the

Atmosphere' Ketention thus becomes etlui~.alent to lir~uwledge and utiderstanding

Trrrnsfkr Test3 Transfer tests are those that nleasure the degree to wh~cli a student

can apply what tvas presented to a new situatioil where the items of the test arc Inure

advanced than ~ l ~ o s e with which students are familiar 'Transfer' can thus In this

context be cons~dered as equivalent to application

Intelligenc~.: It is operationally defined as the scores obtained on thc Kerala Non-

I'erbal group '1-c~t of I~~telligence.

Attitude tolvttrtls Geogrt~plzy Letirning Sctrle. The scores obtained on the altitude

test prepared tly the investigator to cluantif, the tendency ru I-cacr tonards a

designated stinliilus. In the present study the stimulus is learniny Geography

Ixrrming Envirmnment it refers to the total eniironment a\,ailable to the student in

schuul. classrui)m. Iiunie. neighbourhood a ~ ~ r l co~li~nunity rtlat help rhc stud en^ to

learn ~eograph! more eft'ectively

scio-E~.rmonric .status: It i s a blended complex of three statuses are

measured in terms of occupation of the father. education of the parents a ~ l d the

income of the parents.

Rurnl/Wrhrm ,Scttlerr~ent.v

Urbrrn Settlem~.nf: Urban settlement comprises all those places which have either a

municipality. corporation or a cantonment board.

Rurrrl Settlement, Rural settlement cotnprises all those places that do not conle

under the urban settlement.

1.5 HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY

The present study is aimed at finding out t h e efiectiveness of

Information Processing Models over the Conventional Method in the teach~ng of'

Geography in Standard IX. It i s assumed that students' achievement in learning

Geography depends upon the method of teaching adopted On the basis of this

assumption. the following hypotheses were formulated,

Hypothesis I

The effectiveness of Information Processing Models of teach~ng

strategy is sigi~~ficantly higher than that of Conventional Method of teaching

ycoyraphy in Secondary Schoois.

Hypothesis I1

The effectiveness of the three separate models belonging to the

Informatiot~ Processing Models of Teaching is significantly higher than that of

Conventional Method of teaching in geography.

Hypothesis I I 1

1 tiere is significant difference between irnmediat e and delaved

achievement scores of the experimental and control groups

Hypothesis IV

"1 he main and interaction effects of each independent varlable un the

dependent variatjle are significantly hisher in the experiment a1 groups thari In the

corltrul g o u p

1.6 OBJECTIVESOFTHESTUDY

1 To find out the eKectiveness of Information Processing Models ofteaching

2 To compare the effectiveness of Information Pracessirly Models of' teachins

and that clf.the conventional teachins learning method on the achievement at'

p i~p i ls in ( ieography

3 To tind o ~ ~ t ~f there is any significant difference in the ~mmediate and delayed

ach~everncnt of the pupils in Geography when they a]-e taught 111 the

Information Processing Models

4 l'o compare the eifectiveness of three separate model categories helonying to

the lntbr~r~ation Processing Family and that of the conventional teaching

learning 111ethod On the achievement in Geography

5 To cstimate the main arid interaction efkct of each ir~dependerlt variable on

the dependent variable.

O To estirna~e the main and interaction effect of the independent variable with

special reitrence to the extraneous variables and basal variables such as

intelligence. attitude, learning environmenr, socio-econutnic status, gender.

locality and type of management of schools 011 the dependent variable

1.7 METHODOLOGY IN BRIEF

1'lx tnethud selected for the srudy i s an experimental one which makes

use of the non-equivalent pretest-posttest design. The investigator prepare

lesson transcripts in three separate model categories belonging to the lnforrnation

Prucessing Models (IPM) family and the corlventional method To determine the

eiyectiveness of he model. paired 'I' test and .4NCOVA will be used Model wide

analysis of achkement will also be made. M&n and interact~on effect (one-way.

two-way and three-way) of the independent variable on r l ~ e dependent \,ariable by

lakitlg the extraneous variables as covariates \dl also he con~pared i t ) order to tind

out if there exists any significant relation between the achieven~er~t of' the

experimental and control groups. The important findings will be reported and based

on the findings the tenability of the hypothesis will be tested. On the basis of the

~~npurtant findings, necessav suygestior~s for the irnproverrlent of teaching

Geography will be given.

1.8 LIMITA'PIONSOFTHESTUDY

'fhure are at least four types of restrictions. They are linlitatior~s with

respect to the selection of sample, content material chosen t'or experimental

teaching, time allotted for teaching the prescribed topic. and the medium of

instruction used

FII-st, the study was limited to one educational district of' Kerala and

14as confined. only to tile 1 ~ ' " standard Malavalam medium students It could have

been conducterl by selecting more students belonyiny to different standards.

different schools from different districts, l ' h u study could be extended to the

English mediurrl schools as well. Certain personality variables which i ntluenct: the

achievutnent of the students like motivation. interest. anxiety. fatigue etc would have

been taken inro consideration. The components of the dependent variables s ~ c h as

ilnrnediate re ter i~ iu r~ and immediate transfer are taken as immediate achzevernent and

delayed retentjot) and delayed transfer as delayed achievement lrlstead of taking the

total scores of rhe various components of the dependent variables. i t would h a w

been taken separiitely for studying their ei'fects

U ith respect to the content material. the study was further restricted

to one selected unit from the IX'" standard Geography textbook Much more time

could have been spent for teaching and evaluating the mudels of teaching along with

the itlstructional and rlurturant effects. In the Infclrrtlation Processing Mlodels ( l1'h.l)

farnil? there are actually seven separate models. But the investigatnr selected only

three models frclnl the IPM family for testing the effectiveness of Information

Processing Models of Teaching compared to that of conventional method of

teacli in~

Iri spite of the above limitations with respect t u the selection of

sample populat~on. content materiat. allotment of time for teaching the prescribed

content nlateriai. the irlvestiyator hopes that the findings and the lesson transcripts

prepared bv follnwlng the strict norms of IPM wilt be of use for the teachers.

students artd the educational~sts interested in the application of modern methods and

instructional strateyes

1.9 ORGANIZATION OF THE RESEARCH REPOR?'

The report i s presented in six chapters. the details being as fbllows

C'llapter I includes a brief introduction. the present status of

Geographv as a bub~ect of learning in the school curriculun~. nature of (~eugraphy as

a social scier~ce relevance of modern methods in the teaching of Geography.

discussion of the need and significance of the study. statement of the prohlern.

definit~o~i of' key terms, hypotheses, objectives and limitations of the study

C'hapter 11 is devoted to the presentation of the theor.etica1

background of rL4odels of Teaching with special reference to the lnforrnatiorl

Processing Modt.1~

C'hapter 111 presents the revie14 of related literature and studies

pertaining to thr area under investigation. .An earnest attempt is made tu revien all

the available srud~es in the concerned area.

C't-lapter IV yives a descriptiorl of the tnethod of the study. the

sampling procedure attempted. the tools with which the data were collected. the

procedure emploved to collect data and the statistical technique used in the ilnalysis

of data collected

C't~apter V is concerned wit11 the analysis of data followed by its

interpretations

Chapter \.'I sun~~narises the s~udly. in retl-ospect The major

conclusions and tindinys emerged from the results of the analysis are included, l'he

implications of the study are discussed and suggestions for further research art. also

given