EXAMPLE OF SEQUENCING

There are many ways to teach the session in activity B7.5.

1. You could start by explaining the reason why we raise seedlings in nurseries (step 4) and how to mix soil for a seed box (step 9). This is the theory.

Then you could demonstrate how to mix soil (step 3) and plant seedlings (step 10)

After that the students do the preparation and planting - the practical work (steps 1, 7, 11 and 2)

Finally students copy notes. (step 6)

The order is:

Advantages:

• When they do the practical, students know why they are doing the activity and how to do it.

• Session is neatly divided into three activities.

Disadvantages:

• During the explanation students would be learning something they have not seen, and therefore may not fully understand. Learning is always more effective if you can see something as well as hear about it.

• By the time the students start the practical they may have forgotten how to do some of the things.

2. You could start with the demonstration and practical. After the students have done this, you could explain why we use nurseries.

The order is;

Advantage:

• By the time you explain the theory they will understand what you are talking about.

Disadvantage:

• During the practical they would be doing things without knowing why they were doing them.

3. The best way, therefore, might be to integrate the explanation or theory with the demonstration and practical, and alternate between all three activities.

The steps would be:

• Show a seedling (5)

• Ask what might be the difficulty in growing seedlings. Why use a nursery? (8)

• Explain why we raise seedlings in a nursery (4)

• Explain the mixture of soil suitable for a seed box (9)

• Show how to mix soil for seed box (3)

• Students mix soil for seed box. (1)

• Students fill the seed box with mixed soil (7)

• Show how to make rows and plant seeds (10)

• Students make rows and plant seeds (11)

• Students water seeds and cover box (2)

• Notes or handout to summarise topic (6)

The order will be:

 

Advantages:

• You show a seedling first so that students can see what you are talking about. They tell you their ideas about the difficulties of growing seedlings and the reason for using seed boxes or nurseries. The ideas, therefore, come partly from their observation. You are not telling them everything. The explanation becomes meaningful because it is based on seeing as well as listening.

• All the explanations are based on seeing as well as listening.

• A small amount of explanation or theory is learnt thoroughly by practice before more explanation is given. By dividing explanation or theory into small sections followed by practice students will learn and remember far more than they will in a session which consists of a long explanation or theory followed by a long practical.

• In all sequences the notes are written or handed out at the end as a summary of what is learnt or they may also be divided into stages so that students write notes on each stage as they do it.

This means that the best way to teach practical subjects is often to divide your sessions into stages, each with its own explanation, demonstration and practical part followed by note taking.

The order becomes:

  

This is repeated as many times as necessary. The more complex the skill the more stages you may need.

To teach building students how to hang a door the sequence might be:

STAGE 1: MEASUREMENT

• Show a hanging door.

• Explain what door hanging is

• Explain how to measure size of door and frame

• Demonstrate measuring

• Practical – students measure door

STAGE 2: HINGES

• Explain where and how to fix hinges

• Demonstrate fixing hinges

• Practical – students fix hinges

STAGE 3: HANGING DOOR

• Explain how to hang to door

• Demonstrate hanging the door

• Practical – students hang a door

• Notes to remember what has been learnt

NOTE: What not to do:

The worst sequence would be to start by students copying notes from the blackboard before you explain the topic and do the practical. This means they are copying notes without understanding: a meaningless activity. Notes should always come either at the end of a session or at the end of each section. They are a summary to help students remember what they have already learnt, not the basis of a session.