instructional materials

• Instructional materials, Definition

  Vehicles that help to convey information audio and

  visual tools that aid learning include both print and

  non print media
• purposes

  • Help educator deliver messages creatively, clearly,

  accurately & timely

  • Help learners to retain more effectively what they learn
  • Help clarify abstract or complex concepts
  • Add variety to teaching-learning experience
  • Reinforce learning
  • Bring realism to learning
• Principles to be aware of before selecting or developing media for teaching

  • Educator must be familiar with content & mechanics of tools before use
  • Materials can change behavior by influencing cognitive, affective, and/or psychomotor development
  • Materials should complement, reinforce, and supplement –not substitute for– the teaching methods
  • Material choice should match content and tasks to be learned
  • Material choice should match available financial resources
  • No one instructional material is better than another in enhancing learning
  • Should be appropriate for learning environment, such as size and seating of audience, acoustics, space, & lighting
  • Media should be appropriate for sensory abilities, developmental stages, and educational level of intended audience
  • Instructional materials must be accurate, up-to-date, and free of any unintended messages
  • Media should contribute to learning by adding diversity and/or clarify information
• Major Variables to Consider:

  • Characteristics of the Learner
  • Characteristics of the Media
  • Characteristics of the Task
• Characteristics of the Learner: “know your audience”

  • Sensorimotor abilities
  • Physical attributes
  • Reading skills
  • Motivational level (locus of control)
  • Developmental stage
  • Learning style
  • Gender
  • Socioeconomic characteristics
  • Cultural backgrounds
• Characteristics of the Media

  • Print
  • Non-print
  • Demonstration material
  • Audiovisual
• Characteristics of the Task

  • Behavioral objective(s)
  • Learning domains
  • Complexity of behavior
• When choosing print and nonprint materials for instruction, consider:

  • Delivery system
  • Content
  • Presentation
• Delivery System

  • both software & the hardware used in presentation of information
  • Selection criteria: Number of learners, pacing & flexibility for effective delivery, sensory aspects, geography of audience
• Content

  • intended message or actual information being communicated to the learner
  • Selection criteria:
  • Accuracy of information presented. Is it up-to-date, reliable?
  • Appropriateness of medium to convey particular information. Printed pamphlets appropriate for teaching in cognitive or affective domain; videos or real equipment more appropriate for psychomotor domain.
  • Appropriateness of readability level of materials by intended audience. Is content written at literacy level suitable for learner?
• Presentation

  • Form of the message as occurring along a continuum from concrete (real objects) to abstract (symbols)
  • Selection criteria: available delivery systems, content to be conveyed, form of information to be presented
• Realia: represents real thing, most concrete form to deliver information
• Illusionary representations: moving or still photographs, audiotapes projecting true sounds (less concrete, more abstract; but can offer learners rare experiences of learning)
• Symbolic representations: numbers and letters of alphabet , symbols written &spoken as words that convey ideas or represent objects. Most common form of instruction, most abstract.  Should be limited with young children, learners from different cultures, learners with low literacy skills and cognitively and sensory impaired patients
• Written materials

  • Commercially prepared materials
  • Instructor-composed materials
• Demonstration materials

  • Displays
  • Posters
  • Models
• Audiovisual materials

  • Projected learning resources
  • Audio learning resources
  • Video learning resources
  • Telecommunications learning resources
  • Computer learning resources
• Written Materials

  • Handouts, leaflets, books, brochures, etc.: most widely used and most accessible type of media for teaching.
  • Referred to as “frozen language”
  • Most common form of teaching, most abstract
• written materials: Advantages

  • Available to learner in absence of educator
  • Widely acceptable, familiar to public
  • Readily available commercially, relatively cheap
  • Portable, reusable and convenient to use
  • Widely available in languages other than English
  • Suitable for learners who prefer reading
  • Flexible in information is absorbed at speed controlled by reader
  • Content easily altered to target specific audiences
• written materials: Disadvantages

  • Most abstract form to convey information
  • Immediate feedback may be limited
  • Large percentage of materials written at too high a level for reading and comprehension by majority of users/learners
  • Inappropriate for learners with visual or cognitive impairment
  • Inappropriate for illiterate learners
• Commercially Prepared: written materials

  (brochure, poster, pamphlet) factors to consider

  • Who produced the item?  Was there any input by healthcare professionals?  To which cognitive level are the materials aimed?
  • Can the item be previewed?
  • Is the price of the tool  consistent with educational value?  How quickly the information will become outdated?
• Commercially Prepared: advantages

  • Easily available
  • Cheaper than designing new material
• Commercially Prepared: disadvantages

  • Cost for some educational booklets to buy & give away in large quantities
  • Readability level, especially for patients with low literacy level
  • Content which might not completely cover all information learner needs to know
• Instructor-composed: advantages

  • Include information to fit your own institution’s policies, procedures and equipment
  • Build on answers to questions asked frequently by your patients
  • Highlight points considered important by health care professionals
• Instructor-composed: disadvantages

  • Need time to prepare and present
  • Tendency to write information too detailed and not matching reading level of intended learner
• Guidelines for Effective Writing

  • Content is accurate and up-to-date
  • Logical organization of content - "need to know"
  • Discuss information "what," "how," "when" concisely, and follow the KISS (Keep It Simple & Smart) rule
  • Avoid medical jargon, use layman terms
  • Write educational materials 2 to 4 grades below average grade level completed by target audience
  • Use adequate spacing
  • State things in positive not negative terms
  • Use active voice not passive ("take 1 pill" instead of "1 pill is taken by patient")
  • Use second person "you" not "the patient"
  • Most important information goes first
  • Do not use ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
  • Use advance organizers (charts and diagrams)
  • Emphasize key points with end review
• Evaluating Printed Materials: consider

  • Nature of audience (age, learning style, sensory deficits, etc.)
  • Literacy level required
  • Linguistic variety available (only English or English/Arabic/Urdu)
  • Brevity and clarity (KISS rule)
  • Layout and appearance (“need to know” information, use bold characters, plenty of white space, double spacing, generous margins)
  • Opportunity for repetition, written material can be read later by learner (material best laid out in Q & A format, easy to locate)
  • Concreteness and familiarity (use active vs. passive voice, plain language)
• Demonstration Materials: displays

  • Display objects that serve as useful tools for a variety of teaching purposes
  • Most useful in formal classes, group talks, brainstorming
  • Quickly add, correct, delete information
  • Can be permanently installed or portable
  • Encourage participation, keep learners’ attention, reinforce contributions
• Displays Types

  • Tools like flipchart and chalkboard are useful in brainstorming sessions, to make drawings or to jot down ideas
  • Posters represent the relationships between objects with or without the presence of teacher
  • Signs convey quick messages about healthcare issues
• Displays: advantages

  • Fast way to attract attention, make a point
  • Flexible, easily modified and reusable
  • Portable and easily assembled and disassembled
  • Stimulate interest or ideas in observer
  • Effective for influencing cognitive and affective domains
• Displays: disadvantages

  • May take up a lot of space
  • Can be time consuming to prepare, often reused, may be outdated
  • Unsuitable for large audiences
  • Limited information can be included at once.
  • Not effective for teaching psychomotor skills
  • May become cluttered
  • Cannot be transported if permanently mounted
  • Symbolism may not be understood by all.
• Posters

  • Increasingly unique, popular and important educational tool
  • Passive instructional medium
  • Brief, constant, and interactive with audience
• Primary purpose of poster

  Visual stimulation, meant to attract attention
• Effective posters

  Can leave lasting impression
• Poster design

  • Use opposite-spectrum colors, one color 70% of display
  • Balance script with white space
  • High quality drawings or graphics
  • KISS principle
  • Add textures
  • Only essential information
• Poster titles

  • Catchy and concise, using 10 words or less, letters large enough to read from distance of 4-6 feet
• Content current and free of mistakes
• Poster layout

  • Achieve balance by positioning information around imaginary central axis running vertically and horizontally
• posters: advantages

  • Can reinforce and condense information
  • Can be reused for multiple encounters
  • Circulate message quickly and simultaneously to potential learners
  • Can be used with or without teacher present
  • Relatively inexpensive and easy to produce
• Posters: Disadvantages

  • Content is static, may quickly become  outdated
  • If displayed too long, viewers may disregard