DISCUSSING THE OBSERVATIONS Lesson Structures

Preliminary observations in this study showed that a c o m m o n b a s i c s t r a t e g y w a s a d o p t e d by t e a c h e r s in structuring their approach to lessons. In broad terms, lessons consisted of:

a relatively short introductory stage, concerned with managerial problems and with establishing a starting- point for the lesson;

a central, k e y - s e c t i o n , concerned with the transfer of the required information, gains in experience and changes in attitude;

a final, summary/consolidation stage, concerned with assessing and/or confirming progress, setting further work and giving pointers to future activities.

However, when one began to look more closely at the details of lesson strategies, differences became apparent, both within the various stages of a lesson and in the detailed relationship between one stage and the next. With the introduction of the micro into the classroom, differences had arisen in the organisation and management of the lessons and in the teaching and learning styles adopted. It is with these changes and their causes that this study is concerned.

In order to facilitate the discussion of observed teaching strategies, an acceptable means of conveying the 'flavour' of a lesson was needed, preferably in terms which the experienced science teacher would understand. For the present purposes, it was found convenient to classify lessons, s o m e w h a t cru d e l y , as b a s e d in 'Theory', 'Practical' or 'CAL' work. It must, of course, be recognised that any given lesson may contain elements of any or all of these three aspects. In practice, it was found that one aspect usually dominated a lesson and it is this dominant aspect which will be referred to in the following discussion. As a guide:

'Theory' l e s s o n s are those c o n c e r n e d w i t h the transmission of information or ideas which do not make s i g n i f i c a n t use of i m m e d i a t e p r a c t i c a l experience and do not involve significant use of the computer.

'Practical' lessons are those in which the major portion of the lesson is devoted to experimental work by the students or in which the major theme of the lesson is illustrated by the students' experiments. 'CAL' lessons are those in which the use of the computer is central to the main theme of the lesson. This w o u l d in c l u d e the use of the c o m p u t e r to illustrate theoretical points or to simulate an experiment.

A fourth type of lesson is well-known: 'Demonstration1 of an experiment by the teacher. This would seem to be a hybrid of theory and practical lessons in which pupils gain vicarious experience of the particular 'practical' procedure. However, it did not occur during the series of observations made in this study.

An e x a m i n a t i o n of s o m e e a r l y SCA N s r e v e a l e d a superficial u n iformity in the lesson structures used by the teachers involved in this study. This is not to say that an individual used the same style in every lesson, rather that the group as a whole tended to use similar styles for theory and practical lessons. The teachers had well-established ways of dealing with these lesson-types, but not with CAL. CAL was relatively new and was used to r e p l a c e or s u p p l e m e n t b o t h 'theory' and 'practical' topics. This allowed comparisons to be made between the types of lesson structure and interpersonal interactions used in theory, practical and CAL-based lessons.

CAL-Based Changes

In examining the changes which using a computer brought to a lesson, it was felt necessary to look at three principal areas:

i) how teaching and learning strategies changed when a computer was used;

ii) how these changes in strategies affected the interpersonal tactics used by teachers and pupils;

iii) the extent to which program design or type affected the teaching and learning strategies used.

With such a complex area as teaching and learning and the interpersonal interactions involved, an individual study such as this could only hope to discuss particular cases and to illuminate areas of possible general significance. In Chapters 4 and 5, data available from the lesson SCANs and from transcripts will be used to illuminate the changes which occurred and to discuss their importance in the teaching and learning process.