FILAMER CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

College of Teacher Education

Accredited Level IV– ACSCU-ACI
Roxas City, Capiz

Name: Vanessa Ericka A. Lara Year/Section: BSED-3A Schedule: 3-4:00 (MWF)

SS18- PRODUCTION OF SOCIAL STUDIES

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS

Course Activity 2:
What is Instructional Material?
 Roles of Instructional Materials
“Einstein said, it is
the supreme art of the
teacher to awaken joy
in creative expression
and knowledge”
In the previous
activities, we have learned
that "instructional material" is
a generic term used to
describe the resources
teachers use to deliver instruction. These materials can support student
learning and increase student success. Ideally, instructional materials will
be tailored to the content in which they're being used, to the students in
whose class they are being used, and the teacher. They come in many
shapes and sizes, but they all have in common the ability to support
student learning.
The use of instructional materials can enhance the learning
achievement. Cronbach (2009) states the important elements of behavior
that provides the base for learning theory situation which consists of all
the objects, persons and symbols in the learning environment.
Experience in situation prepares a person to respond to similar
situation in future. Use of instructional materials can appeal to the
individual attention by creating interest goal that will help the learner
achieve direct effort. Teacher’s problem of motivation is essentially one of
 arranging situation with instructional materials in which the learner will
see goals he want to attain. Brown etal (2005) summarized the role of
teaching aids as follows:
 It promotes meaningful communication and effective learning.
 They ensure better retention, thus making learning more permanent
 They help to overcome the limited classroom by making the
inaccessible accessible.
 They provide a common experience upon which late learning can
be developed. They stimulate and motivate students to learn.
 They encourage participation especially if students are allowed to
manipulate materials used.
Osuala (2010) in his own contribution said it does not only help to
motivate and develop interest on the part of the student, but also help to
bring about an enhance respect for teachers knowledge of the subject.. The
nature of the learning and the wide range of student’s abilities in the
average classroom necessitate a high degree of teachers and experience in
the method of presenting the subject matter. This has been truncated with
the unavailability of instructional materials in schools. However, a
common goal a teacher carries wherever he is, is to make lesson
presentation vitally fresh, stimulating and testing for their students.
Thus, this will help the teacher to individualize the learning
method as well as the content and also working according to the student’s
need. This goal can be reached most effectively through the use of
instructional materials the need to emphasis on the use and importance of
instructional materials in any learning and teaching environment cannot be
underestimated. For any learning to take place, the teacher has to make use
of these materials that would enable him to teach effectively.
 Basic Principles in Materials Development
In terms of material development, we need to consider two key
questions, namely what should be provided for learners as materials and
how to give them to learners. Materials designers may say that the key of
material development is intuition or tacit knowledge which they know
what work and what won’t work based on their experiences. Although this
seems to be good for developing materials, another point which
need to be aware of is subjective, especially from conservative teachers
who generally might not want to change. Therefore, it had better to listen
to teachers and learners’ voices to see what they’re interested in and what
their opinions toward materials are.
Materials development is both a field of study and a practical
undertaking. As a field it studies the principles and procedures of the
design, implementation and evaluation of language teaching materials’
(Tomlinson 2001: 66). As a practical undertaking it refers to anything
which is done by writers, teachers or learners to provide sources of
language input, to exploit those sources in ways which maximize the
likelihood of intake and to stimulate purposeful output: in other words the
supplying of information about and/or experience of the language in ways
designed to promote language learning

Take a look at the following below:

1. Make sure that the materials contain a lot of spoken and
written texts.
The reason for this: it will open a wide variety of chance to provide
extensive experience of language being used in order to achieve
outcomes in a variety of text types and genres in relation to topics,
themes, events, locations etc. likely to be meaningful to the target
learners.

2. Make sure that the language the learners are exposed to is

authentic in the sense that it represents how the language is
typically used.
If the language is inauthentic because it has been written or
reduced to exemplify a particular language feature then the
learners will not acquire the ability to use the language typically or
effectively. Much has been written on the issue of authenticity and
some experts consider that it is useful to focus attention on a
feature of a language by removing distracting difficulties and
complexities from sample texts. My position is that such contrived
focus might be of some value as an additional aid to help the
learner to focus on salient features but that prior and subsequent
exposure to those features in authentic use is essential.
3. Make sure that the language input is contextualized
.Language use is determined and interpreted in relation to
its context of use. Contextualized examples do not contain enough
information about the user, the addressee(s), and the relationships
between setting, the intentions or the outcomes for them to be of
value to the language learner. I can, for example, think of at least
three different interpretations of, “Give him the keys.
Let him drive it.” But I do not know what it really means
nor why the speaker has used the imperative until I know who is
saying it, who they are saying it to, what the relationship between
them is, where they are, what has happened before and what the
objectives of the conversation are. Only extended samples of
 language in contextualized use can provide learners with the
‘information’ they need to develop awareness of how the target
language is actually used.
4. Make sure that the learners are exposed to sufficient samples
and varieties of language.
It simply mean, that try to consider welcoming the
authentic use of natural re-cycling of language; items and features
which might be useful for the learners to acquire.
Moreover, Materials do not exist in a vacuum. They are part of the
whole context of language learning, including the philosophical and belief-
systems of stakeholders. Depending on what we think language is for and
how we think people learn languages, so our materials will differ. So we
cannot separate materials from more general issues to do with language and
language learning. And materials are just one strand among others: the
teachers who will use them, the learners who will hopefully learn from them,
the sponsors who will pay for them, the publishers who will publish them,
the curriculum and syllabus which prescribe their content, the system which
will decide on the length and intensity of class time and assess the outcomes,
the material and economic conditions in which they are produced and used,
and the culture in which the learning is embedded. The moment we set out to
design any materials, we are enmeshed in this web of interrelated and often
conflicting factors. Like so many things, it is not as simple as it looks.
 Uses and Importance of Instructional Materials
To be an effective Teacher, must know how to utilize a variety of
instructional material at all levels such as presentation and handouts to
enhance the quality of their lesson. The quality of those materials directly
impacts the quality of teaching. Knowing how to find the instructional
materials is a valuable for a teacher to have.
Instructional Materials are the tools used in educational lessons which
includes active learning and assessment. Basically, any resources a teacher
uses to help him teach his students is in instructional material. It is important
because they can significantly increase student achievement by supporting
student learning. This process aids in the learning process by allowing the
students to explore the knowledge independently as well as providing
repetition.
The importance of IMs is to improve students’ knowledge, abilities
and skills to monitor their assimilation of information, and to contribute to
their overall development and upbringing. It also clarifies important concept
to arouse and sustain student’s interest, give all students in a class the
opportunity to share experiences necessary for new learning. And help
learning more permanent.
Below are the points of uses and importance of Instructional Materials:

1. It helps the students remember important information. When

properly used, they help gain and hold the attention of students.
Audio or visual aids can be very useful in supporting a topic, and
the combination of both audio and visual stimuli is particularly
effective since the two most important senses are involved.
Instructors should keep in mind that they often are
salesmen of ideas, and many of the best sales techniques that
attract the attention of potential clients are well worth
considering. One caution-the instructional aid should keep student
attention on the subject; it should not be a distracting gimmick.

2. Good instructional aides also can help solve certain language

barrier problems. Consider the continued expansion of technical
terminology in everyday usage. This, coupled with culturally
diverse backgrounds of today's students, makes it necessary for
instructors to be precise in their choice of terminology.
Words or terms used in an instructional aid should be
carefully selected to convey the same meaning for the student as
they do for the instructor. They should provide an accurate visual
image and make learning easier for the student.

3. Another use for instructional aids is to clarify the relationships

between material objects and concepts. When relationships are
presented visually, they often are much easier to understand.
For example, the subsystems within a physical unit are
relatively easy to relate to each other through the use of
schematics or diagrams. Symbols, graphs, and diagrams can also
show relationships of location, size, time, frequency, and value.
By symbolizing the factors involved, it is even possible to
visualize abstract relationships

4. To encourage your student in their lesson and get their attention

Improve the delivery of instruction Creation of effective,
meaningful lessons Helps students make sense of information
Instructional Materials serve as the channel between the teacher
and the students in delivering the instruction. For learners have a
clear view of what is being taught.
 Notably, there are some elements of IMs to know in preparation to
make it, the content must aligned in the curriculum and standards, current,
valid and reliable with real world of examples. Design to meet the interest of
individual learners from various skill levels. Enhance conceptual
understanding and engages higher order thinking skills. Free from bias. It is
equity and accessibility, since IMs are durable, easily stored, transported and
universally accessible. IMs are easily updated and are adaptable and
customizable to match the resources of the school. It is appropriate for the
learning areas and appropriate for learner’s capacity or levels of learnings.
Teaching is a total package; it is true that a teacher is the best instructional
material because that is the one who manage the classroom. As the saying
goes “you are the captain of your mind and the master of your soul”.

 Benefits of Instructional Materials

There will always be a huge gap between the things that teachers
want to impart to their students and the things that students want to know
from them. The connection that will let the two meet is the relevance of
the lesson with the students’ lives. Engaging activities that stimulate active
learning is proven to be the best method teachers use to provide a long-
term understanding, especially with global learning. The introduction of a
different culture to students can be daunting but making the lesson more
interesting by keeping it meaningful and relevant will serve as a great start
for active learning.
The usual drill-and-kill approach usually hampers creative thinking
and most often produce short-term results. Using appealing learning
materials to make the students attentive to the lesson is a time spent in
school more valued. These materials for global learning could be artefacts
from the native country that the students are studying, like Chinese masks
or Brazilian musical instruments. Having a first-hand experience of using,
or even creating, the materials from another country can inspire productive
thinking.
Here are the benefits of using engaging learning materials in
teaching:
 Apply Concept
Applying the idea that the students learned in school
to a real situation is the best outcome their learning could
achieve. In studying a different culture, the students can
acquire an open mind and apply this skill outside of school
that will provide them with a better outlook on life.

 Increase Motivation
 There is no learning when motivation is lacking.
The usual setup of the teacher talking in front and the
students passively listening can make their interest in the
lesson plummet. Motivating and keeping them interested by
employing learning materials and combining it with
interesting tasks, such as weaving a basket using materials
from Africa, can make the school experience memorable
thus will provide a lifelong learning.

 Easiest to Learn
By making the content of the lesson more relevant
and engaging, the students will find learning relaxed and
simple. Flashy presentations, humor and games can attract
their interest and this will allow the teacher to tap into the
cognitive need of the learner to make sense of the world.
Making them aware of the practices of other people and
their culture through the use of interactive CDs and
magazines that contain significant content can be a good
start of engaging them to learn more about other people’s
way of life.

 Promotes Critical and Creative Thinking

Since the use of learning tools promotes active
learning, the students will acquire skills to analyse,
synthesize and apply the material. It will help develop their
logical reasoning and creative thinking because the teachers
are allowing them to have a more active role in the learning
process.

 Fun Learning
Students often look forward to teachers who can
produce engaging content. Study time is play time while
learning. By providing a realistic experience to them in a
classroom setting, learners get an inspiring and joyful
experience they can only acquire from school. The usual
setup of fun learning is when most of the students are
actively participating in an activity. They are collaborating
and giving ideas to form a better outcome, like performing
as a group to better demonstrate a cultural dance.
 Categories of Instructional Materials
Instructional materials provide the core information that students
will experience, learn, and apply during a course. They hold the power to
either engage or demotivate students. This is especially true for online
courses, which rely on a thoughtful and complete collection of
instructional materials that students will access, explore, absorb, and
reference as they proceed in a course.
Therefore, such materials must be carefully planned, selected,
organized, refined, and used in a course for the maximum effect. The
planning and selection of instructional materials should take into
consideration both the breadth and depth of content so that student
learning is optimized.
Here are the categories of Instructional Materials, briefly
discussed:
 Traditional resources: lectures, talks, writings, project
rubrics, guidelines, textbook primers, reference books,
extra-readings, teacher and student-created summaries,
workbooks, supplementary material such as flashcards
and charts.
 Digital media: Videos, photos, presentations
 Open resources: Expert blogs, open-source journals,
public databases, open courseware, forums
 Testing resources: Standardized tests, classroom
assignments, online submissions, quizzes, essays,
collaborative projects

 Factors affecting Materials Preparation

Let’s jump off to the following factors that affects materials
preparation.

 Lack of supply of materials- Another pressed issue about

teaching aids or instructional materials for use is that, the
materials are grossly lacking in the schools. There was
scarcity of both printed and audio-visual materials in most
of the instructional neither printed nor audio-visual
materials were available in sufficient quantity or quality.

 Understanding- In that case, it requires matching the

materials to the learners’ abilities and prior knowledge. If
the students did not understand the materials, frustration
sets in and making it more difficult. The teacher should
 must know the materials if it is suited on the level of
understanding of the students.

 Non-availability of resource room- This literally means that schools are

affected by non-availability of resource room for the proper keeping of
both the locally manufactured and the commercially purchased teaching
aids thereby limiting its use as at the time needed. Since educational
communication and technology is a fairly new area of importance in
education, it is a lightly technical field, and to understand how it can
affect the instructional delivery, one first has to understand the
operational functionality of the resource kits.

 Population-It is also a serious problem or factor that delay the effective

use of instructional materials ineffective instructional delivery in the
class, because in most cases the time that is allotted for a subject on the
timetable might not be enough for the teachers to present his contents
alongside with effective use of the materials which will affect the
wholesome delivery of the content.

 Sequencing - This has a great impact on the effective application of

teaching aids or instructional materials, this is because the teacher uses
need to understand the sequential presentation of the instructional
gadgets so as to suit the interests of the learners and its appropriateness
with the instructional tasks.

 Pacing- refers to how much and quickly the lessons in the books are
presented. The volume or the length should not overwhelm the students.
There must be enough to have an effect. It ensures also that students learn
better through a variety of ways. The idea is to provide in the textbook
opportunities for students to transform information to one form to
another, and to apply information to new knowledge - by using various
techniques such as comparing and contrasting, drawing inferences,
paraphrasing, summarizing and predicting.

 Understanding of the operational functionality- Part of the application

of teaching aids or instructional materials process is the target population
for whom the materials are to be used and the setting or vicinity where
the learning should take place. This factor seems to be the handicap why
most educational institutions are unable to acquire relevant teaching
equipment and materials. In line with this, students and teachers will lack
on the opportunity to learn and use new techniques in the field.

 Sufficiency of printed and audio-visual materials- Refers to the

arrangement of the materials to provide for continuous and cumulative
 learning where complex concepts are taken only after prerequisite skills
and concepts have been mastered. The four basic ways of sequencing a
material are (Simple to complex, Parts to whole, Whole to parts, and
Chronological arrangements. In that sense, it requires establishing
vertical and horizontal balance or relationships. Vertical relationships
refer to a building of content and experiences in the lesson, unit and
course level. Horizontal relationships establish a multidisciplinary and
unified view of different subjects (e.g. the content of the social studies
course is related to English and Science.

 Frameworks of Materials and Methods

 Contextual Factors
(Learners)
The atmosphere in the classroom and
particular features of the necessary instructional
planning and assessment significantly depend on
contextual factors which are aspects of the
community and district’s development, features of
the concrete school, and learners’ characteristics.
Looking at the breakdown of contextual factors
regarding the learners, I could probably tell that it
is necessary to discuss student factors mentioned in
the list at the right side. Noticeably, they are
seemingly the important characteristics that we
should be mindful of, because they influence the
design of the used instructions, learning activities,
and assessment techniques and methods directly.
 Contextual Factors
(Setting)

Generally speaking, students must understand what they

are expected to learn before they can take responsibility
for their own learning. In many instances, students have
incorrect conceptions of what they are learning, why they
are learning it, and what quality work looks like. That is
why right classroom setting is very important.
The classroom environment should also be described in
relation to such important contextual factors as physical
features, technology equipment and resources, the
parental involvement, and the classroom arrangement
because these factors directly and indirectly affect the
quality and type of instructions and techniques used by
teachers in order to enhance the teaching-learning
process.

References:
 [Link]
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 [Link]
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